


Take Another Little Pizza My Heart

by quindelynn



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3RACHA are best friends, Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Existential Crisis, Fluff, Han Jisung | Han is Oblivious, Han Jisung | Han-centric, Hwang Hyunjin is a Sweetheart, Lee Felix (Stray Kids) Sunshine, Lee Felix (Stray Kids) is a Sweetheart, Lee Minho | Lee Know is a Confident Gay, M/M, except it's not that deep, that should definitely be a tag, they all work at a pizza shop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quindelynn/pseuds/quindelynn
Summary: "That was the exact moment that Jisung saw his lofty goals for the summer go straight down the drain. This kid,Hyunjin, was everything Jisung hated: tall, stupidly handsome, and, if his friendly smile was any indication, good at getting to know new people. All things Jisung was not."orIn a world that's constantly changing around him, Jisung has found his own bubble of serenity working for his local pizza shop with his friends and crush. Then a certain Hwang Hyunjin is hired, and his world is flipped upside down.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin
Comments: 23
Kudos: 346





	1. A Week in July

**Tuesday - Opening Shift**

It was a quiet Tuesday towards the end of May when Jisung’s plans for the summer came crashing down before his eyes.

“Here’s the new employee,” said Minho. The eldest employee gestured unenthusiastically towards a tall boy Jisung didn’t recognize. “His name is Hyunjin,” Minho continued in his bored tone. Jisung, used to the dancer’s tendency to put less than his full energy into his job ( _‘since he was saving it for his dance lessons later!’_ the elder claimed) and yet still be amazing at it, focused his attention more on the handsome stranger before him. “He’ll be helping Seungmin and I out on the makeline and register.”

And that was the exact moment that Jisung saw his lofty goals for the summer go straight down the drain. This kid, _Hyunjin_ , was everything Jisung hated: tall, stupidly handsome, and, if his friendly smile was any indication, good at getting to know new people. All things Jisung was not.

In Jisung’s mind, only Seungmin, his coworker of four years, was allowed to claim those traits. Forget about some new upstart kid. More than one employee of such caliber at their local pizza shop would drive Jisung absolutely crazy. 

Jisung could feel his gaze narrowing at Hyunjin. He knew he was the only one reacting as such; Felix was probably smiling right back, Minho was undoubtedly indifferent, and Seungmin… Jisung couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Seungmin out of the corner of his eye. His hope that the other employee would find this interruption of their routine opening of the store annoying was dashed when the taller boy was also smiling at the newcomer.

Jisung felt his blood run cold. He and Seungmin had worked together at this small pizza shop every summer since their junior year in high school, and he had never once seen him smile like that so quickly. Not even Felix, who had started delivering for the store just last summer after their freshman year in college and was the literal embodiment of sunshine, had earned himself a glimpse of Seungmin’s more tender-hearted side until a few weeks into his shifts.

It didn’t sit right with Jisung that Hyunjin would get one Seungmin’s precious smiles so early on; he didn’t even know to appreciate the gift for what it was! Jisung could only hope that the boy’s perfect appearance was marred by some sort of flaw; maybe he was clumsy or something.

Then Minho continued, “We met during one of my studio’s dance lessons, so I know he’s a hard worker with a good work ethic,” -or maybe not,- “so do NOT corrupt him.” With that, Minho sent a pointed look towards Jisung. 

Jisung pouted. “Hey! Just because I like to have fun while I work,” he said, crossing his arms indignantly, “doesn’t mean I don’t work hard.”

Minho rolled his eyes, but Hyunjin actually let out a giggle that Jisung might’ve found kind of endearing if he hadn’t seen Seungmin’s eyes crinkle in a small smile at the sound.

Oh, hell no. Jisung had had a crush on Seungmin since their first summer working together, back when it was just them and Minho. There was absolutely no fucking way he’d let some new guy swoop in and steal his man. 

This had been the summer Jisung had planned on confessing to Seungmin. However, he could feel his conviction wavering at the sight of his crush smiling not once, but _twice_ at Hyunjin.

“This,” said Minho, jerking Jisung out of his negative thoughts, “is Jisung.” Jisung gave a little wave, still frowning. Minho continued the introductions, gesturing to Felix, a delivery expert (their official title according to the worker’s handbook) like Jisung, and Seungmin, who worked inside the store with Minho. Minho himself was the manager, despite the fact that he was only two years older than Jisung and looked bored half the time.

Minho had been working at that specific pizza shop since he was fifteen, initially taking the job to pay for his dance lessons, and he had been there ever since, continuing to take lessons on the side. In Jisung’s eyes, he was a source of stability; reliable and responsible, despite his tendency to pick on his younger employees.

However, despite the fact that Jisung saw Minho as more of a friend than a manager after their years working together, he couldn’t help but resent the older for introducing this unknown element into their tried and true algorithm. Jisung decided to ignore the fact that Felix had fit right into their group last summer. Felix hadn’t been competition.

He felt his resentment grow when Seungmin smiled again and said, “Thank god. Minho and I were getting kind of overwhelmed in here during the dinner rush.”

Jisung felt his pout deepen. He had spent countless hours trying to get Seungmin to smile at him like that, cracking jokes with his criminally underappreciated humor, while Hyunjin was just getting them for free. It wasn’t fair.

He didn’t have long to think about this unfortunate situation, however, because Minho was quick to dismiss them all back to work. It may have been a Tuesday, one of their slower days, but it was still a work day, which meant they still had to open the store to prepare for their lunch rush. 

Jisung and Felix found themselves where they always did when they opened together; folding pizza boxes in the small back section of the store. Jisung could faintly hear the sounds of Seungmin telling Hyunjin how to prepare the food for their makeline in the front of the shop, and he couldn’t help the pangs of jealousy that wafted through him. 

He imagined Seungmin standing in the sunlight that came through the windows, tying on his apron over his uniform and double knotting it in the way that he always did. It was one of those quirks that Jisung had always found endearingly cute. Unfortunately, this daydream was marred by the thought of Hyunjin pulling on a matching apron over his uniform, the dark blue shirt tucked into black pants, looking unfairly stylish compared to the way the same uniform hung slightly loose off of Jisung’s smaller frame.

Felix chose that moment to say quietly, “He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

Jisung shrugged. “Yeah. I guess.” There was no guessing about it. Hyunjin was definitely one of the most attractive people he’d ever seen in his life. He was beautiful, and he was about to spend hours with the love of Jisung’s life, alone, while he learned how to make pizza and deal with customers. Jisung couldn’t stand the thought of it.

Felix stared at him in disbelief, his hands pausing for a moment, his half put-together medium-sized pizza box resembling a crumpled origami pancake more than a box at the moment. 

“Dude. He’s like, perfect. I never thought I’d ever meet anyone on the same level as Minho, but Hyunjin might have him beat.” Felix then took a moment to sigh dreamily, muscle memory allowing him to fold the box as he stared into the distance with a faraway look in his eyes.

Jisung just shrugged again, slightly uncomfortable. “I mean, yeah. He’s really good-looking. But that doesn’t mean he’s a good person…” he trailed off. Felix was looking at him again in disbelief before shaking his head.

“Whatever, dude. Keep telling yourself that, but if Minho vouches for him, then he’s definitely chill. I’ve shared a couple dance lessons with him and he seems really genuine to me.”

Jisung sometimes forgot that Felix and Minho both danced at the same dance studio, although Minho had been attending for a much longer time. And now Hyunjin was dancing with them, too. So he’d be spending extra time with the two of them outside of work in addition to how he’d be spending extra time with Seungmin during work. Jisung frowned. If he wasn’t careful, this new guy might just take his place with every single one of his co-workers and friends.

Jisung tried to shake the thought from his head. As much as he loved Felix, he didn’t really want to continue this particular conversation, so he grabbed a large pile of folded boxes and carried them to the front of the store where they’d be used to box up the food coming out of the oven.

He immediately regretted doing so when he was greeted with the sight of Seungmin laughing at something Hyunjin had said, the tall dancer leaning slightly towards the other boy.

Jisung put the boxes down with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, the pout that he’d been wearing a bit too much that day coming back full force as he glared at the pizza boxes like all his problems were their fault.

“Are you okay?”

Jisung’s head whipped up at the question. Hyunjin was looking at him in concern from where he was preparing the pizza sauce for the makeline. Of course. Handsome, nice, AND considerate? Shit. He was definitely going to try to make it difficult for Jisung to dislike him, huh? Well, too bad. Jisung was determined to persevere, and he was nothing if not stubborn. 

“Yeah,” Jisung replied shortly. “I’m fine. Don’t fuck up the marinara sauce.”

Hyunjin just looked at him with a startled look, evidently unsure of how to respond.

Seungmin snorted, having heard the entire exchange. “You’re one to talk,” he said. “The last time you got near the prep line, you managed to get mozzarella cheese in every single vegetable container, and we had to replace all of them because we couldn’t separate it all out.”

Jsung could feel himself flush a little at the words, feeling Hyunjin’s eyes on his face. “Okay, yeah, but in my defense, if you’re not ordering cheese on your pizza, you’re doing it wrong anyway!” he whined. God, Seungmin was going to make Hyunjin think he was an idiot. Maybe Seungmin genuinely thought he was an idiot. Oh man.

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “Lactose intolerant people exist, you dumbass,” he said. Jisung could’ve sworn he heard an endearing tone to his words, but that might’ve just been wishful thinking. 

Seungmin opened his mouth again, probably planning on making an extensive list of all the people who don’t consume cheese for various valid reasons, but Hyunjin chose that moment to jump back into the conversation with a blinding smile to say, “My cousin is lactose intolerant!”

Seungmin closed his mouth and just gestured to Hyunjin like ‘ _see, Jisung?_ ’ 

“Well. Good for them,” Jisung said, stuttering through his sentence a bit.

Seungmin, grinning in victory, pulled Hyunjin back towards the makeline and stuck his tongue out at Jisung. “Now go away and do something productive for once.”

Jisung, a mature twenty-year old adult man who rented an apartment with two of his friends and had a job to pay for his own bills because he was so mature and adult-like, stuck his tongue out in response before making his way to the back of the store to fold more boxes.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Wednesday - Opening Shift**

In Jisung’s opinion, the next day didn’t go much smoother. He’d spent the day before answering countless phone calls and delivering countless pizzas with Felix. Not only had he been forced to deal with several completely unreasonable customers, but whenever he was in the store between deliveries, he had had to watch as Hyunjin got closer and closer to Seungmin.

The two seemed to be getting along extremely well. Jisung’s jealousy was showing no signs of going away as the new employee acted like he and Seungmin had been friends for years, seemingly with Seungmin more than content to follow along.

This seemed destined to continue Wednesday when Jisung opened yet again with Seungmin, Felix, and Minho. He had hoped that Hyunjin wouldn’t be working that day, but no such luck. The dancer was there again, getting more and more buddy-buddy with Seungmin.

Jisung was only two hours into his shift when he made up his mind. He had already been planning on telling Seungmin about his feelings that summer. Jisung’s best friends, Chan and Changbin, had been egging him on for two years to just get it over with, but it was only a few months ago that he had finally caved and decided to confess. Eventually.

However, Hyunjin was forcing him to accelerate his original plans. If Jisung didn’t want to risk the dancer getting in the way, he’d have to act fast. So he decided, after seeing Hyunjin and Seungmin rubbing shoulders just one too many times, he’d confess the next time he and Seungmin closed together. They’d be alone, and if it went poorly, then his shift would be over and he could run home to cry in peace.

But that was only if things went poorly. Jisung liked to think of himself as a positive person, so he forced all the ways that his confession could blow up in his face from his mind and tried to focus on his current delivery.

Life was good. His car may not have been a convertible (as a matter of fact, it was a 2008 Honda Accord that his parents had bought for him from their neighbors as a gift for getting his license in high school), but when he rolled down the windows and turned up the music, it didn’t really matter. 

He had survived his sophomore year of college, and he was living with his best friends. He had a job and money to pay his bills, and his mom called enough to show him she loved him but not enough to be overbearing. Jisung should be happy.

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel as though his life was slipping through his fingers, and there was nothing he could do about it. Despite his attempts to focus on all the things he had going for him, it felt like things and people around him were changing and leaving him behind. Starting with his chance with Seungmin.

This feeling was only emphasized when he returned from his run (receiving a whopping two dollar tip. Yay.) and walked in on Felix and Minho lounging about in the office discussing their dance studio.

“You won’t have too much trouble finding a replacement driver, will you?” he heard Felix ask. Jisung clocked back in on the monitor where their system dispatched the drivers to keep track of the orders and then made his way back to the office. 

He arrived just in time for Minho to snort from where he sat in the single rolling chair, legs crossed. Felix sat on the desk itself, waiting for Minho’s response.

“Please. We’ll put out an ad and have someone new to take your place in no time,” Minho said, patting Felix’s head condescendingly, despite being several feet lower than him due to their seating positions. “You’re not that special,” he joked.

Felix just laughed, swatting the hand away. “Okay, good, then I won’t feel bad for ditching everyone.”

“What are you talking about?” Jisung asked, trying to appear nonchalant, but feeling like yet another puzzle piece in his life was being torn out and thrown somewhere he would never find.

“Oh!” said Felix, looking excitedly at his fellow driver. “I got accepted to the summer session next year at Minho’s dance studio! So this’ll be my last summer lugging around pizza for people who don’t tip enough!” Jisung forced himself to smile, and once he started, it became more and more real. Felix had been worried over his audition for ages, and Jisung felt genuinely happy for him. He’d have time to be worried about being left behind later; for now, he’d be happy for his friend.

“That’s amazing!” Jisung said, grinning. “Don’t worry about those of us stuck here at the pizza shop; I’ll annoy Minho enough for the both of us.” He poked Minho in the arm, wiggling his eyebrows.

But Minho just poked him back, responding, “Good luck with that. I’m getting out of here, too.” Jisung felt his smile drop a little too quickly. Felix and Minho didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in the excitement of their futures coming together. “The dance studio offered me a full time position as an instructor and choreographer when one of their old choreographers retires this August, so this will be my last summer as well.”

Jisung felt like his heart was stopping. Minho had worked at the store as long as Jisung could remember. He’d been there when he’d been interviewed, had supervised his training period, and worked year-round compared to Jisung’s summers. It had never occurred to him that Minho might leave. 

“Congratulations!” he said, but inside he was feeling like someone had yanked a rug right out from under his feet, leaving him disoriented and wondering which way was up. “Well, good riddance to you guys,” he said with a short laugh. “I guess it’ll just be me and Seungmin next summer then.”

“But I thought he got into that business internship he was aiming for with that accounting firm?” Felix asked, his light-hearted questioning tone conveying no awareness of the fact that he had just ripped Jisung’s heart right out of his chest.

“What?” Jisung asked, a bit more forceful than he had intended. “Why the fuck does no one tell me anything?” He ran to the front of the store, purposefully avoiding Minho and Felix’s eyes in the hopes that they wouldn’t pick up on his genuine discomfort.

“Seungmin!” he called out, being careful to mask the hurt anger he was feeling. He took the last few steps up to the prep line counter where Seungmin was currently spreading sauce on his newest pizza a bit more slowly than necessary in an effort to calm down. “Why didn’t you tell me you got that internship you’ve been wanting?”

Seungmin looked up, caught off guard. The large ladle he’d been using to spread the sauce evenly over the circle of dough dropped a large dollop of sauce with a small _splat_. Jisung had eyes only for Seungmin, ignoring the fact that Hyunjin had also looked up in surprise from where he’d been working a ball of dough into eight pieces to make garlic knots.

“Um, I don’t know. It never came up, I guess?” Seungmin said, calmly turning back to his pizza to spread the accidental dollop of sauce out. 

Jisung wondered if Seungmin and Hyunjin could feel the tension in the air, or if he was the only one feeling awkward as he stood behind the two inside employees.

“Well, congratulations,” he said, trying to speak with nonchalance that he definitely didn’t feel. “I’m really happy for you.” 

And he was. Jisung knew that Seungmin had been a bit stressed over his applications, since his plans for the future relied heavily on having an internship with one of the Big Four accounting firms before his senior year of undergraduate classes.Seungmin had hoped to be picked in order to have his graduate degree paid for by said accounting firm. It was all very thought out in a way that Jisung had always admired, but now it was coming true, and Jisung couldn’t help but feel that he was being left behind. Again.

Giving no indication that he could sense Jisung’s inner turmoil, Seungmin looked up for a second to give Jisung a small smile, saying, “Thanks.”

Jisung was desperately searching for any way to either continue the conversation naturally or get the heck out of there without seeming weird, when Hyunjin cut in, asking, “What internship?” 

Jisung couldn’t even be mad at him for interrupting, because it provided the perfect transition from the slightly awkward (for Jisung) atmosphere. That, and the fact that he sounded so genuinely curious that Jisung couldn’t help but feel his sincerity in wanting to know more.

“It’s an exclusive internship with one of the Big Four accounting firms,” Seungmin explained, continuing to add toppings to his pizza now that it was thoroughly coated in sauce. Jisung knew him well enough to hear the slightly proud tone in his voice. “It basically guarantees me a job directly out of college, and it greatly increases my chances of having my grad school paid for by the company.”

“That’s really neat!” Hyunjin said, admiration clear in his voice. The way he seemed so happy for Seungmin, despite having only known him since yesterday, made Jisung almost sad that he had to dislike him.

Jisung was looking for a way to reenter the conversation when Hyunjin turned his eyes towards him and said, “What are you planning on doing next summer? What do you study? You’re in school right? Seungmin said you were.”

Jisung’s mouth dropped open a bit, taken aback by the sudden attention. For once, his quick mouth was silent as he struggled to form a sentence. Later on, he would be pleased at the thought that Seungmin was talking to Hyunjin about him, but in the moment, his thoughts were consumed by the anxiety that surfaced everytime he thought about his future.

“Oh. Um, yeah. I am. I go to the local arts college with my two roommates,” he said slowly, only able to remember the last of the questions Hyunjin had blurted out. Hyunjin grinned in response, ignoring the way Jisung’s eyebrows furrowed.

“That’s cool! I actually go there, too. I’m a dance major! Maybe we’ve been classmates!” Hyunjin seemed tickled pink by the idea. Jisung just shrugged. “What do you study?” Hyunjin repeated.

“Music production,” Jisung replied. When he was a freshman being asked that question, only a little over a year ago, Jisung would’ve stated his major proudly and without hesitation. Now, as he was set to enter his junior year of college, he was less sure of himself, so the words sounded flat even to himself.

Hyunjin didn’t seem to notice. He opened his mouth to say something, but then the three employees recognized Minho’s voice calling from the office.

“Jisung!” Jisung flinched, shoulders curling a bit when he realized that Seungmin was now looking at him, too, due to their manager’s shouting. “Get back to work!” Great.

His shoulders drooped. Seungmin just rolled his eyes, turning back to his pizza with a smirk, while Hyunjin let out a little giggle. 

“Well, talk to you guys later, I guess,” Jisung said, giving a small wave. Seungmin threw his hand over his shoulder in a dismissive motion, not even bothering to turn around, but Hyunjin wiggled his fingers a bit in response.

“See you,” he said. Jisung turned around and walked to the back before he could let himself be blinded by Hyunjin’s perfect teeth, wishing he’d been able to talk more with Seungmin, but simultaneously glad to avoid further reminders about their differing futures. Because if there was one thing Jisung was better at than making music or cracking jokes to fill an awkward silence, it was avoiding thoughts about uncomfortable topics like the future.

* * *

**Thursday - Opening Shift**

Wednesday flew by, and then it was Thursday and Jisung’s third opening shift in a row. It meant less delivery runs and less tips, but it also meant that Jisung would be able to spend more time in the store than out of it. In other words, it meant that Chan and Changbin knew it was the best time to bother him at work.

Jisung was folding boxes with Felix in the back yet again when he heard the tell-tale ringing of the bell on the front door and Changbin’s voice calling out his name. He grinned at Felix and dropped the box he’d been in the middle of folding on top of Felix’s pile, laughing when Felix just rolled his eyes in response. 

In seconds, he’d dashed out of the back and into the light of the store’s front section. He ignored Minho’s call when he passed the office and went immediately around the counter to meet up with his best friends.

Jisung couldn’t help the grin that stretched across his face. So maybe it had only been a few hours since he’d seen the two of them as he’d yelled that he was off to work and only gotten two grumbles in response, but he missed them already. 

When he had moved in with the two other students his sophomore year in college, he’d been afraid they might get tired of each other. Sure, he’d known Changbin since middle school, but he’d only met Chan through Changbin during his freshman year. Luckily, despite the fact that Chan had been a senior (now graduated) and Changbin had been a junior (now a rising senior), the three of them had gotten closer than ever. They’d quickly gone from roommates enrolled in the same music program in school to best friends in a music group who wrote songs together.

Long story short, Jisung was more than happy to be distracted from his less-than-entertaining morning shift by two of the most important people in his life (not that he’d ever tell them that).

“Guys!” he said, grinning cheek to cheek. Changbin grinned back, and the two of them smacked their hands together with a bit more force than absolutely necessary.

“Hey, Jisung!” Changbin said, drawing out the “u” in Jisung’s name in a way that was definitely meant to be annoying. Jisung just laughed.

They had about thirty seconds of peace to talk about nothing important before Minho emerged from the office with a huff that let Jisung know he was only pretending to be annoyed. Chan instantly stiffened, glancing at Minho, before forcing his body to relax in an air of forced nonchalance. 

“Hello Jisung’s friends,” Minho said, leaning against the counter between them in a lazy way that Jisung knew Chan would find beyond attractive. “What brings you to our little pizza shop this morning?”

Changbin chose that moment to speak up. “Technically, it’s almost noon.”

Chan smacked him on the arm, causing Changbin to flinch in surprise and rub his arm with a pout. Minho just laughed. Chan’s eyes were instantly drawn back to the manager. Chan made it seem like a pizza shop uniform consisting of a t-shirt tucked into pants was the pinnacle of fashion by the way he was unable to look away from Minho. Jisung rolled his eyes.

If Chan chose today to finally confess his feelings to Minho then Jisung would eat his socks with a side of cheese-less pizza.

Jisung turned away from the two, not in the mood to watch Chan attempt to flirt and then blush when Minho flirted back. Changbin met his gaze and the two shared an amused glance. 

Jisung turned back to Minho abruptly, saying, “Changbin and I are going to fold some boxes,” before grabbing Changbin by the arm and dragging him around the counter and into the back of the store, sparing one last glance at the front of the store.

Chan was still standing a bit awkwardly on the customer’s side of the counter. He looked happy that Minho was still talking to him, even though the way the manager was leaning over the counter would’ve cued anyone else into the fact that Minho was into Chan, too. Oh well, Chan would stop being oblivious eventually. 

Further beyond them, next to the prep line, Jisung caught a glance of Seungmin ignoring their shenanigans like usual, no doubt used to the four of them causing a ruckus. Hyunjin was looking down at his half-made pizza with an intensity that made Jisung feel almost bad for whatever topping he was spreading so harshly. Poor banana peppers.

He was quickly distracted from the aggressive treatment of innocent vegetables by Changbin, who had picked up one unfolded cardboard box piece and then proceeded to start whacking Jisung on the arm with it. Jisung slapped his hands away and rubbed at his arm, shooting Changbin a dirty look that would’ve been more intimidating if he’d actually meant it.

“Hey, hey,” said Changbin, starting to actually fold the cardboard cutout in his hands. He’d snuck into the back room to hang out with Jisung so many times that he could do so without even looking at the box itself, and he took advantage of this fact to peer around the corner at the front of the store where the rest of the employees were still loitering about. “That guy is new, right?”

Jisung grabbed a cardboard cutout of his own and began folding it with an angry speed that revealed how he really felt about Changbin’s question, despite the lack of expression showing on his face.

“Yes,” he said shortly.

Changbin glanced back at him in surprise. After living with Jisung for a while and knowing him for years even before that, he was able to tell that Jisung’s response was off. Although the other may have been more quiet with people he didn’t know, he was known for being a loud-mouthed wise guy with his close friends. The one-word answer was definitely out of the ordinary considering he was alone with only Changbin to hear.

“Do you guys have some beef or something?” Changbin asked, folding another box, his eyes moving away from the front of the store and towards his friend. 

Jisung shrugged. 

Changbin made an _‘ah’_ sort of face, one of recognition. Then he smirked. “He’s pretty handsome, huh?” he asked, his teasing tone hardly covered by his poor attempt to feign nonchalance.

Jisung shrugged again, but this time his hands crushed the corners of the box in his hands.

Changbin laughed. “So you think he’s your competition, huh? Think he’s gonna swoop in and steal Seungmin from you? No offense, but he’s way out of either of your league.” Changbin laughed again, setting down another box on top of their slowly growing pile. 

Jisung froze, staring down at his box. Did Changbin think he didn’t know that? Of course he knew that. Hyunjin was conventionally handsome, tall, athletic, polite, quick to smile, easy to talk to, and a hundred other things that Jisung wasn’t. He probably had his whole future planned out, just like Seungmin. Seungmin, who was also way out of Jisung’s league. The two of them were perfect for each other.

Jisung felt his lips pulling into a frown despite his attempts to remain expressionless. Changbin noticed, pausing in his actions, his current box half folded. 

“Hey, hey, you know I was just kidding, right? You’re a great dude, and I’m sure Seungmin will come to his senses once you work up the courage to actually say something to him. I mean, he’s a smart guy,” Changbin’s voice grew more and more serious as he spoke, turning from joking to reassuring once he saw the effect his words had had on Jisung.

Jisung unfroze, quickly finishing folding his box and placing it on the pile with a laugh that only Changbin or Chan would’ve been able to recognize as strained. “Yeah man, I know,” he said. He puffed up his chest and threw Changbin a thumbs up and matching grin. “I’m a fucking catch.”

Changbin rolled his eyes and grabbed another unfolded box, smiling in relief at his ability to save the situation. Jisung tried to force his thoughts to move on, the way Changbin seemed to think they had, and got to work folding yet more boxes. 

A couple minutes of comfortable silence passed before Changbin broke it with a gasp. “Ah! Jisung! Do you know what mood Minho is in today? The things I’d do to eat some chicken wings right now,” Changbin said, trailing off, daydreaming about the possibility of free yummy food.

Jisung laughed, understanding the question immediately. After all, when Minho was in a good mood, he was known to throw together some free food for the employees and their friends. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of when he was in a bad mood, when he was more likely to throw food at them rather than feed it to them. 

“Hell, I don’t know. He’s been pretty talkative this morning, which is a good sign.” Then Jisung giggled conivingly. “But then you and Chan just _had_ to show up. Who knows now.”

Changbin sighed. “Aww man, you’re right. Hopefully Chan gets his shit together and flirts his way to free food.” Then the two of them were laughing again at the thought of Chan’s bumbling attempts at flirting.

The two of them continued to fold and banter for four whole peaceful minutes. Jisung had even managed to focus entirely on the present for the time being, putting his worries about Hyunjin and his own future out of his mind.

That is, until they heard the steps of someone making their way to the back. Changbin and Jisung both looked up reflexively to see who had entered their formerly isolated bubble. As a result, they were both looking up curiously as Hyunjin rounded the corner. Evidently not expecting the sudden attention, Hyunjin stopped walking momentarily, surprised, before continuing forward more slowly.

Hyunjin made his way to one of the shelves that housed boxes of ingredients that didn’t require refrigeration. Jisung went back to folding boxes, his interest quickly dissipating, but Changbin’s eyes still followed Hyunjin.

“Hey,” he said, calling out to the other boy. “I’m Changbin.”

Jisung and Hyunjin’s heads both shot up to stare at the older boy, Jisung with betrayal and Hyunjin with innocent surprise. Jisung, with his back to Hyunjin, narrowed his eyes at Changbin. Changbin pointedly avoided his gaze.

“Um, hi. I’m Hyunjin,” said Hyunjin. Jisung turned to look at him. Hyunjin stood kind of awkwardly, cradling the bag of marinara sauce he’d evidently been sent to fetch in his arms like someone might hold a baby if they’d never seen one before. It was the first time Jisung had seen him anything less than composed, and he felt a smug sort of satisfaction at seeing Hyunjin look a bit uncomfortable. Then he felt a bit guilty for his satisfaction, although he tried to push it out of his mind. He was getting pretty good at ignoring negative feelings, if he did say so himself.

Then Hyunjin pointed questioningly at the two of them with a long finger. “Is this, like, allowed?” he asked, his tone light. Changbin laughed.

Jisung shrugged. “Not really, but Minho has never cared enough to stop us before.” Then he looked over at Changbin and addressed him with feigned distaste. “Although sometime I wish he _would_ kick your annoying ass out.”

Changbin just snickered. “As if. You love me.” Then he lunged, dropping the box in his hands and wrapping an arm around Jisung’s neck to enable him to muss up his hair with the other hand. Jisung screeched and wiggled in an attempt to escape. The two of them quickly forgot about Hyunjin’s presence as Jisung tried and failed to break free from Changbin’s muscular grip several times. 

After a few seconds, Jisung finally shimmied his way free, stumbling back from Changbin as he ran his hands through his hair, trying to fix the unruly strands with a whine. He was so focused on rearranging his hair that he accidentally found himself backing into Hyunjin, bumping into the new employee.

Jisung looked back over his shoulder at Hyunjin, mentally cursing at the height difference. He quickly spun to face Hyunjin and backed away, running a single hand through his hair awkwardly and staring at the tiles on the floor. 

With a short awkward laugh, Jisung said, “Oh, sorry man. My bad.” He forced himself to meet Hyunjin’s gaze, despite the fact that he’d literally do anything else. Why was it that he seemed to constantly embarrass himself in front of the other employee?

Hyunjin seemed frozen in place. Jisung realized he probably could’ve walked away thirty seconds ago, while he and Changbin were roughhousing, but he hadn’t. Maybe he’d enjoyed seeing Jisung being put in his place. The thought made Jisung uncomfortable. For some reason, he couldn’t seem to stop caring what Hyunjin thought of him. It was driving him crazy.

Then Hyunjin unfroze with a start, drawing the attention of Jisung and Changbin. He laughed, his mouth crinkling into a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “No problem, Jisung. I’m gonna bring this,” he raised the bag of marinara in explanation, “back up to Seungmin now. I’ll, um, leave you two alone.” When he said the last sentence, the smile that didn’t reach his eyes seemed to turn a little sad, and he turned around quickly as if to hide his expression.

Had he spared him any thought, Jisung might’ve wondered why Hyunjin suddenly seemed sad. As it was, he was too focused on his appearance in the other’s eyes to consider the fact that Hyunjin might’ve been thinking the exact same thing.

“See you!” said Changbin happily, waving a folded pizza box in Hyunjin’s general direction, receiving a vague wave in return. This made Changbin’s eyes narrow in the way they did when he was thinking hard, but he didn’t seem eager to share whatever it was he was trying to figure out. Then Hyunjin was gone, and the two of them were alone again.

Jisung punched his arm lightly in retaliation for his earlier treatment and the two were bickering again in no time, the previous encounter forgotten.

Around half an hour had passed before the two of them finished folding enough boxes to last them the day and they made their way up to the front of the store. Luckily for Jisung, business was slower than usual. There hadn’t been any deliveries up yet except for the one that Felix was currently taking, and the few carry-out orders that had been placed fell under Seungmin and Hyunjin’s job description. In other words, he was free to goof around with his friends just a little bit longer.

Jisung was pleased to see, once he and Changbin had emerged into the light of the store’s main section, that Chan and Minho had migrated only a little bit. Rather than leaning against the counter, Minho was now perched on top of it, his legs dangling over the edge on the side where the customers stood. Chan, on the other hand, was now the one leaning against the counter, his hips closer to Minho’s legs than Jisung would’ve thought him capable of. Huh. Maybe the older producer wasn’t such a coward after all.

Still, Jisung could see that, despite his confident stance, Chan’s ears were beet red. Fortunately, this didn’t seem to bother Minho, who was leaning towards Chan with a pleased look on his face. Jisung made eye contact with Changbin, and the two of them simultaneously pretended to gag in disgust. That caused them to break out into a raucous laughter, drawing the attention of all of the employees (minus Felix, who was out on a delivery run) and Chan.

Seungmin went back to spreading dough almost immediately, which made Jisung a little sad. Minho, once he determined that the interruption was nothing that he needed to care about, turned his face back to Chan’s. Jisung watched as Minho put his mouth next to Chan’s ear and whispered something with a smile that none of them could hear.

It didn’t seem possible, but Chan’s ears got even redder. Minho laughed his tinkling laugh that even Jisung had to admit was endlessly attractive and hopped down from the counter. He then made his way around to the employees side of the counter and walked to the prep line. He gently nudged Hyunjin to the side and grabbed a ball of dough. With deft movements, he cut it into eight even pieces and began fashioning them into knots that would eventually become cinnamon twists, all while humming a happy tune under his breath. 

Changbin leaned towards Jisung and whispered, “Well, it’s not chicken, but it’s a pretty close second.” 

They grinned at each other. Within seconds, they were at Chan’s side, both digging their elbows into either side of his ribs.

“So,” said Jisung, his face split by a shit-eating grin. “Minho’s in a good mood.”

“Yeah,” agreed Changbin. “What did you do to get us this free food, huh? Did you finally ask him out?” 

Chan shook his head. “He, um. He asked me.”

Jisung’s mouth fell open in shock. Changbin’s eyes widened. “No shit!” Changbin said loudly. Chan smacked him on the arm and shushed him. “No shit.” Changbin whispered.

Jisung shook his head, astounded. “Wow. I never thought he’d be the one to cave first. He loves watching you flounder.”

Chan rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. “Yeah. He said as much as he loves watching my attempts to flirt, he’s not gonna get any younger. Then he asked if I’d be free to grab coffee sometime.” 

In a split second, Jisung and Changbin were patting Chan’s back in congratulations, although their pats held more force than was probably necessary, resulting in Chan telling them to cut it out. It was inevitable that the three of them would end up in a friendly tousle similar to the one Jisung and Changbin had gotten into in the back room.

They were so caught up in each other that they didn’t notice the piercing gaze of a certain new employee.

They continued to hang onto each other for a few minutes of blissful calm. Then they were interrupted by Minho’s voice, calling, “Jisung! Get over here!”

Jisung rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Okay!” he called back. He turned to his friends one last time, saying, “See you guys in a bit.”

Then he walked behind the counter and up to where Minho stood next to the oven. Like always, the large piece of machinery was firetruck red, and the chain conveyor belt on the inside that carried the food from one end to the other was slowly continuing it’s never-ending cycle.

When he’d first started working at the pizza shop, Jisung had been impressed by the ingenuity. The oven’s conveyor belt continuously moved until it was turned off for the night, and it’s slow pace ensured that food placed in at one end was thoroughly cooked an even fourteen minutes before exiting on the other side.

Now, however, seeing as he was in his fourth summer working there, Jisung paid the powerful piece of machinery almost no attention at all. Instead, he focused on the food being taken out of the oven by Minho, who was waiting next to the metal table that held all of the sauces and various utensils used to box up the cooked food at the end of the oven.

Minho gestured towards the oven, where the now-cooked dough twists were slowly being revealed as they traveled along the conveyor belt. “Would you box these up for me? And the other food coming out, too. Thanks.” Despite the fact that it wasn’t really a question, Jisung was happy to comply with the request. After all, he was being paid to complete a job, regardless of whether or not his friends were there.

So he grabbed the large metal spatula that was used to retrieve food from the oven. He had looked up what the actual name of the tool was once, and been disappointed to find out it was called a pizza peel. It was much more amusing to call it a spatula. He then used the tool to scoop up the tray containing the bread twists and plopped them on the metal table. 

With practiced ease, he maneuvered the bread twists into a small bread box, grabbed a bottle of the cinnamon concoction and drizzled it onto the bread twists. With quick hands, he replaced the bottle, grabbed a small cup of icing, placed it next to the twists, and closed the box. 

He then turned to hand the box to Minho, only to find the manager’s eye trained on a certain laughing blonde on the other side of the counter with surprisingly fond eyes. Jisung pretended to clear his throat. Minho finally dragged his gaze away and looked at Jisung.

Jisung shook his head in wonder. “I’m so used to you joking around, I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you being serious.”

Minho just smiled, taking the box of cinnamon bread twists from Jisung’s hands and turning his gaze back to Chan. “You better. I’m gonna marry that boy.”

“Oh, ew,” said Jisung, but he was smiling. He knew very well that Chan and Minho were good people, and he could picture them being very happy together. It was why he had continuously encouraged Chan to confess. He just wanted to see his friends happy.

“Shut the fuck up,” said Minho pleasantly, the fond smile never leaving his face. Then the dancer wandered away from Jisung and towards Chan and Changbin, taking the box of twists with him.

Jisung watched as Chan and Changbin broke out into matching grins at the prospect of free food. He watched only long enough to see Changbin tear open the box and dig into the sugary snack while Chan and Minho gazed at each other with disgusting affection before turning back to his job.

He swiftly started scooping food up with the metal spatula and boxing it up, years of practice lending speed to his actions. He was so caught up in what he was doing that he jumped slightly when Hyunjin spoke up at his side.

“Hey,” Hyunjin said. Jisung glanced up at him briefly before forcing his eyes to focus on the food in front of him. Great. Hyunjin again. Jisung grabbed a pizza cutter and swiftly cut a pizza into eight even slices.

“Hey,” he replied, noncommittal. It was a wonder that Hyunjin still hadn’t caught onto the fact that Jisung wasn’t interested in talking to him. It was nothing personal. Just a clashing of interests. That, and the fact that Jisung couldn’t help but compare himself to Hyunjin whenever he was near him for more than thirty seconds, and he wasn’t into inflicting pain on himself.

“So,” continued Hyunjin, grabbing a rag and wiping down the metal table in an effort to appear busy, “Minho and your friend….?” he asked, trailing off, obviously hoping for Jisung to fill in the blank.

“Yeah, Chan. Chan has been pining after Minho since I introduced them a year ago.”

“And you and….?” Hyunjin said, trailing off again.

Jisung stopped cutting, looking up at Hyunjin with a blank expression, genuinely confused. “Me and….? Oh my god,” he said, realization and horror coloring his voice. “Me and Changbin? Oh my god, no. No no no, I’ve known him since I was twelve, that is disgusting,” he said, putting down the pizza cutter to form his eyes into an ‘x’ across his chest for emphasis. 

For some reason, Jisung’s response seemed to amuse Hyunjin, and he burst out laughing. Unlike the smile from before, this one was genuinely happy. Jisung was so enamored that he missed the meaningful look Changbin shot him from across the store.

“Sorry,” Hyunjin said, sheepish. “I didn’t mean to assume. You just seemed really close.”

“We are,” said Jisung, momentarily forgetting his earlier reservations about talking to Hyunjin. “Close, I mean. Like I said, I’ve known Changbin since I was twelve and he was thirteen. We’ve been neighbors forever. Then he graduated high school and enrolled in the local arts college and met Chan.” Jisung shrugged. “Then I enrolled a year later and met Chan, and the rest is history.”

“Do they study music production, too?” Hyunjin asked. Jisung looked up at him in surprise. He’d gone back to cutting the pizzas coming out of the oven, but Hyunjin’s question had surprised him. He vaguely remembered mentioning that he’d been a production major, but he hadn’t actually thought that Hyunjin would remember.

Unlike most people, who asked Jisung questions about his life for the sole purpose of wanting to talk about themselves but not wanting to appear outwardly rude, Hyunjin seemed to actually listen to Jisung. His interested look showed that, maybe, he actually cared about what Jisung was saying.

Jisung hated to admit it, but it was kind of….nice.

So when he responded, he let a little more feeling slip into his voice, as opposed to the way he’d been more reserved earlier. “Yeah, they do,” he said. “We all study music production together. We’re um,” he continued, kind of sheepish, “we’ve actually produced some music together, as a group.”

Felix chose that moment to pop up, because of course the universe couldn’t help but intervene everytime Jisung was having a peaceful interaction with someone. He couldn’t stay mad at Felix for long though, he was such a loveable guy.

“Are you guys talking about 3RACHA?” he asked, bubbly. Or maybe Jisung _could_ stay mad at him. “You are right?” Felix continued. He grinned, throwing the insulated bag that he’d used to keep the pizzas warm during his run back onto the rack that held the rest of them. Jisung shot a glare at the physical embodiment of sunshine, but could only watch in despair as Felix ignored him and walked up to Hyunjin. “They’re in a group called 3RACHA and they’re super good.”

Jisung wanted to grumble a complaint to Felix for spilling his secret. Not that it even was a secret. It wasn’t like he was ashamed or anything. He was actually quite proud of the songs the three of them had worked to create. It’s just that he still wasn’t sure of his future. It felt weird to brag about something that wasn’t definite, a potential career choice that wasn’t a sure bet.

He didn’t have time to say anything to Felix, however, because Hyunjin chose that moment to interject loudly, “ _You’re_ in 3RACHA?”

Jisung wasn’t sure what to make of his outburst. His first instinct was to assume that Hyunjin was judging him for being in a college band like a character in a bad fanfiction, but something about the dancer’s tone made him second-guess himself.

“Yeah,” he said. “What of it?” He couldn’t help the slightly defensive tone from creeping into his words. He’d had enough of adults and peers judging and looking down on his career choice, let alone his own doubts. Jisung wasn’t gonna take anything lying down, especially not from a pretty-boy like Hyunjin.

Jisung didn’t know what he expected Hyunjin to say, but it definitely wasn’t, “I fucking love 3RACHA.”

Jisung dropped the pizza cutter, and it clanged to the table. He took no notice though; he was too busy staring at Hyunjin in disbelief. Even Felix seemed flabbergasted.

“You already know 3RACHA?” Felix asked, voice high for once in his life. Hyunjin nodded. “That’s such a crazy coincidence!”

Hyunjin shrugged, seemingly embarrassed by the undivided attention of the two delivery drivers and trying to play it off. “Not really. I saw a poster for your SoundCloud on one of my dorm’s bulletin boards last semester and searched up the link out of boredom. I’ve kind of been listening to your songs nonstop ever since.” Hyunjin swallowed, obviously debating whether or not to admit his current thoughts out loud, before seeming to resolve himself. “You guys are kind of one of my favorite artists of all time?”

Felix clapped him on the shoulder happily, grinning widely. “That’s so neat! I think they’re pretty great, too, although Jisung always tries to play it off. Who knows why, though,” he said, looking over at where Jisung still stood frozen and continuing in a teasing voice, “it’s not like he’s humble when it comes to anything else.”

That jolted Jisung out of his frozen state. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and pouted a bit (in a very manly way, of course). 

“Hey!” he exclaimed. “There’s a difference between knowing you’re talented and actually expecting something to come from it.” Jisung was finding it difficult to pinpoint his current emotions. He loved producing with his best friends, but discussing their group with people face to face and not through the anonymity of the internet made the pressure to succeed feel that much more heavy. 

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a large surge of pride in his chest at the thought of Hyunjin listening to their songs through his own volition. Before a few days ago, the dancer had had no idea who Jisung and his friends were, and so felt no obligation to like the songs just because they were coworkers. His interest in their music was real. And damn did it feel good.

“What do you mean you don’t expect anything to come of it? You and Chan and Changbin are majoring in music production, right? Your music is already amazing, and that’s without outside experience and guidance. How can you _not_ expect anything to come from 3RACHA?”

Jisung felt himself flush. It was a mixture of pride, embarrassment, and a slight hint of resentment. Who was Hyunjin to come into his life and say things about the future like that as if he knew anything?

Jisung’s first interest was to snap at the dancer. If he hadn’t outgrown his angry teenager phase and developed a slightly better filter, he probably would’ve said something along the lines of, _‘Well, why don’t you just become a professional dancer right now if it’s so easy to follow your dreams, huh?’_

As it was, he took a breath to compose himself before deflecting. Self-deprecating humor, here he comes. 

With a small self-deprecating laugh, he said, “Sure, we’ve got some good stuff. But then again, we’ve got some bad stuff, too.” he asked, snickering. Then he sang a line from from of 3RACHA’s earlier songs. “‘Hey girl, do you have a boyfriend?’ I mean, really? Who would ever fall for that line except for preteens with a limited grasp on reality?”

Felix laughed, and Jisung started to relax. However, he tensed again when Hyunjin didn’t fall for the bait. Instead of the conversation evolving into jokes and banter and leaving behind talk of 3RACHA altogether, Hyunjin let the hint fly right over his head.

“If ‘Wow’ is considered one of your worst songs, then you must be pretty damn talented, because it’s catchy as fuck, even with a few cringey lines,” said Hyunjin matter-of-factly. “But we already knew that.”

Jisung felt like his eyes were going to bug out of his face. Not only had Hyunjin made a mockery of his attempts to escape the situation using humor, he’d then proceeded to prove that he actually did listen to 3RACHA. By not only recognizing the lyrics, but also being able to accurately place what song they came from, he had single-handedly wiped out any residual doubt that he’d been lying from Jisung’s mind. What in the world was going on.

Felix seemed to sense the change in atmosphere. He responded to the sincerity in Hyunjin’s voice with some sincere words of his own. “Yeah, you’re totally right.” He placed a hand on Jisung’s shoulder, shooting him one of his signature sunshine smiles. “Jisung, you really should be more confident. You guys are good.”

Jisung felt the blood rush to his face. He thanked his lucky stars that he wasn’t one to fall victim to blushing cheeks, but he cursed the fact that his ears were another matter. He could feel them burning at Hyunjin and Felix’s words.

So, like he always did when he felt uncomfortable, he laughed it off. Jisung brought his arm up to rub at the back of his neck, managing to knock Felix’s hand away with the natural, unassuming motion. 

“Shut up, you guys. Okay, fine. I admit defeat; we’re good. I mean, I already knew that,” he said, snickering slightly. “Maybe I was just trying to be humble, and here you all are, making me brag. It’s downright rude.” Jisung poked Felix in the chest accusingly, the lack of force behind the action revealing its joking nature. Felix just laughed and slapped his hand away and then poked him back. Soon enough, the two of them were engaged in the battle of the century, poking each other back and forth while attempting to block the opponent’s attacking fingers.

Then they heard the sound of a clearing throat. Felix and Jisung both straightened immediately, eyes wide. They shared a scared look before turning slowly to face the source of the sound. Minho stood there, arms crossed, giving them a reproachful look.

“So this is what I’m paying you for, huh?” he asked, voice disdainful.

Felix whined, “Aww, come on, Minho, don’t be like that.” He left his place at Jisung’s side to tug at one of the straps of the apron Minho was currently wearing over his uniform.

Jisung just snorted, crossing his arms over his chest, mirroring Minho’s position. “You’re one to talk.” He jerked a thumb in the direction of his roommates. Chan and Changbin had migrated and were now lounging about in the small office, visible through the door from where the employees stood. “You’re just as guilty of slacking off. Otherwise you’d kick Chan out instead of flirting all day.”

Changbin saw Jisung gesture towards them in the office and blew him a kiss with a sickly sweet smile. Jisung just scrunched up his nose before looking at Minho again.

Minho stuck his tongue out at Jisung, cracking his serious facade. Jisung returned the favor. 

“Just don’t get too behind on the ovens, okay?” Minho said, patting Felix on the arm and shooting Jisung a pointed look. Felix grinned, clapping his hands like an excited little kid. Jisung gave two thumbs up and a grin of his own. Minho just shook his head in defeat before swiftly spinning on one heel and making his way back to the office to waste a little more time with the two eldest 3RACHA members before the lunch rush fully hit and he was forced to get back to work.

Felix and Jisung turned their grins on each other victorious. They even attempted a high-five, although the fact that they slightly missed each other’s hands caused them to burst into laughter. Then Felix walked off to clean some dishes so that the closing drivers wouldn’t have as many to do later that night, and Jisung was left to continue working the ovens.

It was only then that Jisung realized Hyunjin was still standing in the same place as before, sending expressionless glances towards Changbin for some reason. He’d been so silent throughout the encounter with Minho that Jisung had forgotten he was there.

Jisung was slightly surprised. That was the second time that day that he’d managed to put Hyunjin out of his mind while goofing off with friends. To someone else, that might not have been a big deal. The same could not be said for Jisung; as a self-acknowledged introvert, he was used to being hyper-aware of those around him until he got used to their presence. In other words, sometime in the last few days, Jisung had unwittingly allowed himself to grow used to being around the dancer. Huh.

Jisung’s thoughts were interrupted when Hyunjin moved around to the other side of the cut table and began putting stickers on boxes. These stickers, printed by their computer system for the purpose of labeling each of the boxes that would eventually contain food, were easy enough to understand. Reading them required little actual attention, so Hyunjin was free to continue his conversation with Jisung even as he prepared the containers for Jisung to use when boxing up the food coming out of the oven.

“But seriously,” Hyunjin said, returning to the conversation from several minutes before. Jisung was starting to think that he’d never move on. “Why do you act like 3RACHA is nothing serious? Your songs sure sound like you take them seriously.”

Jisung’s good mood fizzled out. He retrieved a tray of chicken wings from the oven and scooped them into the corresponding box. He reached for the hot sauce bottle with slow hands, and drizzled it onto the wings even more slowly. 

Finally, Jisung found his words. He wasn’t sure why, but he found himself responding more seriously to the question than he usually would when someone asked about his future in music. 

“I just wonder if it’s actually gonna work out. I love music, more than almost anything. It’s just that the future is so uncertain in that field. And yet, it’s too late to change anything without making a mess of my life,” Jisung laughed bitterly, squeezing the bottle a little too hard. More hot sauce poured onto the chicken than was necessary. “I can’t change majors anymore without having to take a fifth year in college, and there’s no way I could ever afford that.”

Jisung didn’t know why he was telling Hyunjin all of this. They had only met three days ago, but he felt like he’d already told his life story. He’d never spoken this frankly with any of his other co-workers. Not even Seungmin, the one he’d spent the most time trying to get close to, knew he felt this way. Whenever the two of them discussed their futures, it was usually Seungmin gushing proudly about his destined path in the business world and Jisung listening, vaguely jealous.

And yet, here Jisung was, spilling his guts to a person that he had sworn was his enemy only a few days ago. Instead of the threat of the future choking him up as it usually did when he tried to talk about it, he found himself speaking the words easily. He was usually averse to the idea of change; so why did he find himself actually feeling kind of….comforted?

Maybe it had something to do with the way Hyunjin didn’t seem to be judging his insecurities. The dancer merely nodded in understanding, never pausing in his methodical placing of the labels as Jisung grabbed another pizza from the oven.

“I guess I can understand that,” Hyunjin said. “But I don’t think you need to be worried. Not only are you insanely talented, but you’re in it with people you care about. Maybe you won’t be the next Billie Eilish, but as long as you’re not alone, you’ll never hit rock bottom.”

Jisung looked up from the partially cut pizza in front of him. This time, Hyunjin wasn’t looking at the labels. He had stopped what he was doing to look directly at Jisung, as if willing him to feel his sincerity. And Jisung did. He felt the truth in Hyunjin’s words, and even if they weren’t factually true in the eyes of the world, there was no doubt that Hyunjin believed in them.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Jisung’s ears flushed again and he looked quickly back down at the pizza. It had no cheese. Gross.

“I-” he started, trying to find the right words to explain his current feelings. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure what he was feeling, so he was left with nothing else to say except, “Thanks. That means a lot.” Jisung wanted to take back all of the negative thoughts he’d ever directed towards Hyunjin in the past. 

In a time of unexpected weakness, Hyunjin had comforted him. How many more surprises would the day have in store for him? Jisung hoped not too many more; even though everything that had happened today had been positive, it was still a lot to handle.

Then the bell for the front door rang, signalling the entrance of a customer, and Seungmin called out from where he was still diligently putting pizzas together. “Hyunjin! Could you get that?”

Hyunjin responded, “Sure!” in a voice that was clearly reserved for customer service and nothing more. He gave Jisung one last apologetic look before he slapped a customer service smile on his face and turned to go help the customer with their carry-out order.

At the same moment, Jisung’s next delivery was up. He boxed up one last sandwich and picked up the pizzas and chicken the customer had also ordered and placed them all in one of the insulated delivery bags. Jisung then clocked out on his run and was out to his car in seconds.

Jisung put the bag with the food into his back seat and plopped into the driver’s seat. He turned the car on, placed his hands on the wheel calmly, and then banged his head on the wheel between his hands.

“Shit.” he whispered to himself. The wind coming through the open windows (open because he never bothered closing them) ruffled his hair. He pressed his forehead into the steering wheel, grinding the skin against the well-worn faux-leather material.

So embarrassing.

* * *

**Friday - Closing Shift**

Jisung felt like he was tip toeing on eggshells as he came into work just before five in the afternoon. After spilling his guts out to Hyunjin, he felt like he was walking around with a neon sign above his head that read _look over here! I’m in a delicate emotional state!_ If this had been a corny teen romcom, the universe would have inevitably found some way to get Jisung alone with Hyunjin so that Jisung would be forced to address his problems with the help of his newfound enemy-turned-kind-of-friend and grow emotionally so that he could finally get together with Seungmin and live happily ever after.

If only.

Instead, he was stuck with the closing shift on the busiest night of the week. Instead of working with Felix and Minho and dealing with minimal business, he’d be running about until midnight taking orders, followed by at least an hour of washing dishes. He was so down in the dumps at the thought of the scalding water and greasy pans that his spirits couldn’t even be lifted by the fact that Seungmin was sharing the closing shift with him.

Jisung sighed with resignation as he approached the employee’s back entrance. If he was lucky, Hyunjin had worked the opening shift and been sent home by now. If he was really lucky, then Felix and Minho might still be here for the tail end of their opening shift and he could hang out with them until they left. 

As he pushed open the back door and entered the air-conditioned room full of folded boxes, getting a clear look at who stood in it, he cursed the universe. Seungmin was standing next to a stack of medium sized pizza boxes taller than he was, looking handsome as ever, but he wasn’t alone. Hyunjin was standing in front of him, scratching his neck in a self-deprecating way that was effortlessly attractive in the most annoying way possible.

Jisung zeroed in on the way Seungmin had his hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder. The smile on his face was boyish and breathtaking. It was the smile that had first endeared Jisung to the young man in high school, the same smile that first clued him into the fact that he’d had a crush on the other. For this reason, he understood its addictive pull. And here Seungmin was, directing the smile at Hyunjin.

It made Jisung jealous. He supposed the two of them _did_ look good together. That didn’t stop him from being uncomfortable at the thought. In a selfish attempt to break up whatever was going on, he cleared his throat a bit louder than was absolutely necessary.

Seungmin and Hyunjin both looked up. Seungmin gave him a friendly smile, but Hyunjin looked at him with wide eyes. The dancer jumped back, putting a few more feet between himself and Seungmin. Jisung wasn’t sure why exactly Hyunjin felt the need to do so, but once the two employees were farther apart, he felt like he could breathe a bit easier.

“Hey Jisung!” said Seungmin happily. Jisung was only slightly surprised. Seungmin was known for being level-headed, but he was no stranger to having fun. Still, the fact that he was in such a good mood right now meant that something positive must’ve happened to him. “You’re closing tonight, right?”

Jisung nodded.

Seungmin grinned, stepping towards Hyunjin again to slap him on the shoulder in a conspiratorial way. “Hyunjin is, too! Guess who was enough of a sucker to switch shifts with me?”

Oh yeah. Fuck the universe big time.

Hyunjin looked at Jisung with a hopeful smile. Jisung ignored him the best he could, trying with all of his might to avoid thoughts of his embarrassing emotional vomit yesterday. “So you’re leaving then?”

Seungmin nodded, still grinning. “You bet I am. I’ve been here since nine in the morning and I am ready to get out of here. Figured Hyunjin could gain experience closing for the first time and I could go home and do literally anything else.”

Jisung put on a brave face, but he felt like a ball of dough that had been over-proofed. Not super.

Jisung grinned back at Seungmin. “Lucky.” Then he walked past the two of them, pointedly avoiding a certain new employees’ gaze, and made his way to the front to clock in. His mood took an immediate turn for the better when he came upon the sight of Minho lounging about in the office with two familiar faces.

“Chan! Changbin!” he called, surprised. “I didn’t know you guys were coming today.” Jisung walked up to his three friends. He looked around to see if Felix was anywhere in the store, but then he saw that his name wasn’t on the list of current drivers displayed on the dispatch screen. He must’ve gone home already.

His two friends looked up, and Changbin waved a cute little wave (although Jisung would never admit that he’d found it cute to Changbin).

“We weren’t gonna be here. But someone,” Changbin jerked a thumb at Chan, “wanted to come visit a certain manager.” Chan’s ears turned red, but his smile was happy.

Minho cooed at the eldest boy. Minho reached out a hand from where he was sitting on the desk and pinched one of Chan’s burning ears. “And I’m glad you came.”

“We’ve only been here a few minutes. We were working in the studio for a few hours and we needed a food break.” Chan’s voice sounded level and controlled, but his blissful expression revealed how he was really feeling in response to Minho’s attention.

“But that’s not the only reason, right? Changbin said that there was another reason you chose our specific little establishment….?” Minho said, his voice trailing off suggestively. He removed his hand from Chan’s ear, and instead placed it on Chan’s thigh where it was resting on the single office chair. Jisung wasn’t the only one who noticed the movement.

“Aaaand that’s my cue,” said Changbin, standing up from where he’d been leaning against the wall. He stalked out of the tiny office and towards Jisung who’d been standing just outside. “C’mon Jisung, let’s go fold some boxes or something. I’d even rather wash dishes than be forced to watch their PDA any longer.”

Jisung laughed, and the two of them headed towards the back room once Jisung had clocked in. As they were walking towards the back, they came face to face with Seungmin and Hyunjin heading to the front of the shop and found themselves at an impasse. 

Everyone stopped moving, and Jisung watched as Seungmin and Hyunjin both focused their eyes on Changbin, although they had very different expressions. Seungmin's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but not enough to erase the happy little crinkle present from his earlier good mood. Hyunjin’s expression, on the other hand, was frustrated.

“Changbin!” said Seungmin. “I didn’t know you were here.”

Changbin shrugged, looking at Jisung with a slightly worried look. Jisung wasn’t exactly sure why, so he pretended he didn’t see it. As always, avoidance at its best. And anyway, his attention was more focused on the way Hyunjin’s eyes were boring into the side of Changbin’s face, like Changbin was a complicated riddle he wanted to solve.

“Yeah, I just got here with Chan.” Changbin’s voice was even.

“Are you going to be staying long?” Seungmin asked. He either didn’t notice Changbin’s lack of investment in the conversation or was purposefully ignoring it. He didn’t budge an inch even when Changbin moved to the side like he wanted to squeeze by him through the hallway.

Changbin’s shoulders drooped the tiniest bit and he shot Jisung another quick glance that Jisung didn’t understand. Changbin shrugged. “As long as it takes for Chan to get tired of hanging out with Minho. We carpooled here.”

Seungmin smiled his boyish grin. Jisung waited for his heart to start beating faster the way it usually did when Seungmin looked like that, but it never came.

“Minho gets off around six,” Seungmin said. “You’ll probably be stuck here until then.” He snickered, but he didn’t sound too sad about it.

Changbin sighed in resignation, then laughed breathily, unintentionally cute. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Guess I’ve got a pile of unfolded boxes calling my name while I wait.” He made another move to pass Seungmin. This time Seungmin understood the message and pressed closer to the wall so that Changbin could proceed, and the rapper passed the two insider employees and stood waiting for Jisung to follow.

At the same time, Seungmin giggled in response to Changbin’s statement. It was a sound that Jisung had only heard a few times; usually at his own expense when he did something dumb. Jisung stared at the accounting major in disbelief. Changbin wasn’t _that_ funny. 

Jisung found himself looking at Hyunjin. Maybe he’d been hoping for camaraderie in his disbelief, but what he saw instead was Hyunjin glancing quickly back and forth between Changbin and Seungmin with a look of dawning realization on his face and maybe the slightest tinge of anger.

Hyunjin, his eyes narrowed slightly, was nibbling at his lip as he tried to work his way through whatever thoughts he was having. It started to make Jisung anxious just looking at him, and he reached forward unthinkingly. 

Jisung only realized what he was doing when he noticed everyone’s eyes on him. He quickly returned his hand to his side, ears flushing against his will. What had he been trying to do exactly? Pull Hyunjin’s bottom lip out from between his teeth? What was this, a badly written porn plot?

So Jisung settled for staring angrily at the ground and spitting out, “Don’t bite your lip. It’s making me nervous.” Fuck. More emotional word vomit. Was he a child? Where was his impulse control when he needed it? 

His pride forced his eyes up to meet Hyunjin’s gaze, glaring a bit in an effort to cover up the now familiar feeling of embarrassment. Jisung took petty pride in the fact that Hyunjin had indeed stopped biting his lip. The tiny blush on Hyunjin’s cheeks flew right over his head.

Then Jisung broke their eye contact and stomped purposefully between Seungmin and Hyunjin. He ignored how the small hallway forced him close to both of them, his arms brushing against Hyunjin’s apron. In a second, he’d left Changbin in the dust, forcing Changbin to scramble quickly in order to follow into the back room and out of sight of Jisung’s coworkers.

Changbin leaned close while Jisung started angrily folding boxes. Great. Now he was even taking his embarrassment out on inanimate cardboard cutouts.

“Hey man, what’s up with you?” Changbin asked.

Jisung just stayed silent, folding the box in front of him with such force that it ripped slightly, as if doing so would force his red ears back to their original color.

Changbin also stayed silent for a few seconds. Then he took a deep breath before speaking to Jisung in an even quieter voice than before. “Look, Jisung. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think Seungmin would….” Changbin said, trailing off when Jisung looked up in surprise at the mention of Seungmin.

“What are you talking about?” Jisung demanded, also in a hushed voice. He was glad he’d responded well below his usual volume, because he could still hear Seungmin and Hyunjin talking in the hallway. Hyunjin was probably waiting as long as possible before clocking in, while Seungmin had no doubt already clocked out and was content to loiter.

Changbin looked guilty and…..sad? “I swear I’m not gonna get in the way of you and Seungmin. I know how you feel. You know I’d never do that, right?”

Jisung continued to stare at Changbin, uncomprehending. He didn’t understand why Changbin was bringing Seungmin up. He’d thought it was obvious that he was just embarrassed because of what he’d said to Hyunjin, but Changbin seemed to think that he and Seungmin were the cause of Jisung’s bad mood.

Changbin seemed to sense that he’d need to elaborate further and looked like he’d rather do literally anything else. “It’s just that Seungmin has been seeking me out a lot more recently whenever Chan and I come visit? I swear I’m not encouraging it!” Changbin insisted, holding his hands up in front of him as if he expected Jisung to attack. Then, when Jisung continued to look at him in confusion, he slowly lowered his hands. “I guess you didn’t notice?”

Changbin was right. Jisung _hadn’t_ noticed. He’d been so preoccupied with his own problems in the last few weeks, and then dealing with Hyunjin had taken most of his attention in the last few days. Unwittingly, his attention hadn’t strayed to Seungmin as much as it usually did. In fact, it hadn’t strayed to Seungmin even once in the last two days, except when he was face to face with the other boy. 

Changbin was still standing next to Jisung, shifting nervously from foot to foot. It was at that moment that the lightbulb went off in Jisung’s head. It took seeing Changbin beating himself up for “overstepping his bounds” for Jisung to realize that maybe Changbin actually wasn’t breaking the “bro-code.” Maybe….Jisung didn’t like Seungmin anymore.

Jisung turned his wide eyes back to the poor box that lay defenseless in his hands. He’d spent years crushing on Seungmin. And now, was he really going to tear the rug out from his own feet by admitting that maybe he didn’t feel that way about the other boy anymore? That….maybe he hadn’t felt any romantic feelings for him for a while? Maybe….maybe he had never really liked Seungmin at all….no. That wasn’t true. He’d definitely admired and liked Seungmin when they were in high school. 

However, they weren’t in high school anymore. At some point, Jisung’s feelings towards Seungmin had evolved from liking him to liking the idea of him. Seungmin was stable. He was reliable and steadfast and just so….Seungmin. And maybe that wasn’t what Jisung needed or wanted anymore.

Jisung took a shaky breath and finally made eye contact with Changbin. Changbin’s eyes widened in concern, obviously thinking he’d hurt Jisung’s feelings irreparably. Jisung smiled softly in an effort to finally settle his friend’s nerves, and also because for the first time in a while, he was feeling a bit more in control of his life. Finally being self-aware enough to recognize that this change felt good. He felt powerful and stable and secure for the first time in weeks, months, years.

“Changbin,” he said slowly, trying out the feel of the words even as he said them to be sure that they were true. They were. “I don’t feel that way about Seungmin anymore.” Changbin’s eyes widened a comical amount, and even though he tried to hide it, Jisung could see the relief in them. “You’re both adults. If he likes you,” Jisung said, and then he started smirking, “and you like him, then who am I to interfere.”

Changbin flushed and sputtered, and Jisung knew he’d hit the nail on the head. God, what a horrible person he was for not noticing that Changbin had been suffering, denying his feelings in an effort to be a good friend to Jisung. Well, it was time for Jisung to return the favor.

Jisung placed a hand on Changbin’s shoulder and started walking him determinedly out of the back room. They passed through the door into the hallway where Hyunjin and Seungmin were still conversing and Jisung gave him a little shove towards them. It was the kind of shove that the muscular Changbin could easily have resisted, but he allowed himself to stumble towards the spot where Seungmin was leaning lazily against the wall.

“Go get him, you big baby,” he whispered, shooting two thumbs up when Changbin looked back in disbelief. He guessed Changbin could read the sincerity in his expression, because Changbin was unable to stop the genuine happiness that spread across his face. Then he turned, straightened his shoulders, and sauntered over to Hyunjin and Seungmin.

Jisung could only smile as Seungmin immediately brightened up, his reasons for continuing to loiter about the store made clear; he’d been hoping to talk with Changbin again. Jisung made a mental assessment of himself, trying to find any feelings of betrayal or hurt, but there were none. He was genuinely happy for his two friends in the same way that he’d been ecstatic when Chan and Minho had finally gotten together.

Then he heard the tell-tale ding of the dispatch screen and computer that indicated a run was up. Jisung tried to give Seungmin and Changbin a wide berth so as not to interrupt the conversation Changbin had just struck up with him. So focused on giving them space, he didn’t realize how close was to Hyunjin on the other side of the already short and narrow hallway until he was bumping into the taller boy’s chest.

“Oof,” he grunted, stumbling a bit. Hyunjin’s hands grabbed Jisung’s biceps instinctively in an attempt to steady him. It took Jisung less than a second to take stock of their current situation, and then he was scrambling away quickly, a flush creeping up his neck. 

“Shit, sorry,” Jisung said. “My bad, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” And then he was gone, escaping to the front of the store and then out the back door with the newly bagged delivery order before Hyunjin could utter a single word.

Once in his car, he allowed himself a deep breath to calm his nerves. He may be happy that he’d finally figured out his feelings towards Seungmin and helped Changbin, but it was still a big change in his life, and he’d never been so good with those. He told himself that the reason he was so unsteady was because he was still in his adjustment period.

So he turned the radio five ticks louder than his usual ‘loud’ setting and started driving, allowing the wind through the open window and the now deafening music to distract him for the next fifteen minutes. After all, how could life ever be bad when he was surrounded with the smell of delicious, if slightly overpriced pizza?

When he returned to the store, richer by a measly two dollars, there were countless more deliveries listed on the computer dispatch screen. And so, for the next hour, he and the other drivers found themselves outside of the store far more than they were in it, which was more than fine by him.

During the flashes between deliveries, when Jisung would box up his next run before departing again, he caught glimpses of his friends. Everytime he came back from a run, Seungmin and Changbin had moved closer and closer. They probably hadn’t noticed due to how gradual their movements were, but to Jisung, who saw them in fifteen to thirty minute increments, the changes in their positions were obvious. By the time six o’clock rolled around, Seungmin and Changbin were both leaning against the wall with only a few inches separating them. 

Dang. Who knew that Changbin actually had game?

It just so happened that Jisung was between deliveries when it was time for Minho to clock out and head home. 

“Jisung!” he called, hanging up his apron on one of the hooks in the back. “I’m trusting you to keep the rookie in line,” obviously referring to Hyunjin. “Don’t fuck up,” he said, smiling sweetly.

Jisung gave him a mocking salute. “Aye aye captain.” Minho narrowed his eyes at him and pointed two fingers at his eyes before pointing them at Jisung in the universal, _‘I’ve got my eyes on you’_ gesture.

Then he strutted out the back door with Chan hot on his heels. 

“Bye Ji!” Chan waved as he jogged after Minho. 

Then the two were gone, and Changbin was left to hurry after them, saying, “Hey, wait for me!” to the already closed back door, and “Bye Jisung!” to Jisung as he passed him.

Jisung waved at his retreating back, although he knew Changbin was already too far away to see. Seungmin walked slower, trying to appear nonchalant, but evidently feeling no need to stay in the store now that Changbin had left.

“I’m gonna head out, too. See you guys later,” he said, waving at Jisung and Hyunjin. Jisung could see him smiling slightly, and he had a feeling that it might have something to do with the fact that he’d seen Changbin typing his number into Seungmin’s phone around five minutes earlier. And then everyone was gone and Jisung and Hyunjin were alone. 

The hours passed quickly. Jisung was never in one place for more than a minute, staying in the store only long enough to pick up his next delivery and then head out again. He made some good tips, and he made more bad tips. By the time midnight rolled around and they stopped accepting orders, he was ready to go home with his measly earnings.

The other drivers (mere side characters in the shitshow that was Jisung’s life) had left an hour ago, leaving the cleanup duties to the closers, Hyunjin and Jisung. Yippee.

Jisung slammed the door to his trusty Accord a little harder than necessary. The old man he’d just delivered to had not only not wanted to tip him, but he’d had the audacity to try and underpay. It was the perfect end to one of the most confusing days of his life. And yet, despite the fact that he still had a million dishes to do and hadn’t earned all that much in tips, he was feeling more optimistic than he had in a long time.

Jisung turned to pull the car topper off of his car, removing the large magnetic plastic pizza shop logo sign that exclaimed to the world that Jisung was still working the same minimum wage job he’d had since high school. He carried it into the store and put it away, waiting to be used by a driver the next day. 

Jisung trudged wearily to the front of the store. His feet dragged after hours spent running around in an effort to please people that couldn’t see past the next slice of pizza in front of their face.

In the main section of the store, Hyunjin had already started cleaning up. The dishes and utensils used throughout the day had already been brought to the sinks in the back and Hyunjin was currently mopping the floor. His apron was sitting in a rumpled pile on the counter where he had evidently thrown it the first chance he got.

Jisung couldn’t help but think to himself that it just wasn’t fair that Hyunjin could still look this good after a long shift. At this point, Jisung knew that he probably looked more like Hyunjin’s rumpled apron than a human being.

“Are there any more dishes that I can take back?” Jisung asked, voice tired.

Hyunjin jumped, surprised. His feet slipped a little on the wet tiles when he straightened too quickly, and Jisung couldn’t help the tired giggle that escaped as he watched Hyunjin flail a bit in an effort to regain his balance. It was the first time he’d seen Hyunjin less than perfectly graceful, and it served to make him seem more relatable. Which, surprising to no one, made him even more attractive. Jisung sighed. Some people just had it too easy.

“Oh, Jisung, hey” said Hyunjin, gathering himself and beginning to mop again. “No, I brought everything back to the sinks for you. There shouldn’t be too much; I had the other drivers try to wash some dishes when they had time between deliveries.”

Jisung started, surprised, but touched. “Thanks Hyunjin. That was, um, pretty cool of you.” Jisung then made his way to the back before he could say something dumb, but not before he managed to see Hyunjin flush the tiniest amount. Cute.

For the next half an hour, Jisung focused what was left of his attention on washing dishes. He let himself get lost in the monotonous task, daydreaming about being at home in his bed. By the time twelve-forty in the morning rolled around, Jisung was dead tired. He was so in the zone, hands working with practised ease, that he didn’t notice when Hyunjin walked up behind him.

When Jisung finally noticed the other boy, standing a bit off to the side, it took all of his willpower not to jump the same way Hyunjin had only half an hour ago. He was feeling pretty proud of himself for only nodding coolly in acknowledgement when Hyunjin said, “Hey, I finished cleaning the front.” Internally, Jisung groaned. He still had at least another half an hour before he’d be finished with the dishes. Looks like it’d be another late night, and he hated being the last one to leave the store.

Then Hyunjin continued, “Would you like some help finishing up?”

Now, Jisung liked to think he was fairly independent. He was a grown man, thank you very much; he was more than capable of doing something as simple as cleaning dishes. But the thought of finishing in half the time and crawling into bed that much earlier was too much to pass up. 

So he nodded sheepishly. “That’d be great. Thanks.”

Hyunjin smiled evenly and began pulling the dishes that had been cleaned already from the sanitizing sink and started drying. They continued like that in silence for a few minutes; Jisung rinsing the dirty pans and then scrubbing them with soap in the first sink before placing them in the second sink full of sanitizing liquid, where Hyunjin would then pull them out and dry them before placing them on the large rack at the back wall.

Maybe it was because Jisung was too tired to dwell on the fact that he was still supposed to be embarrassed about accidentally opening up several times to someone he’d only just met, but the silence wasn’t awkward. They were both content to simply coexist.

Jisung was actually feeling a bit better about how this night was wrapping up when Hyunjin said, “Would you mind if I put some music on? Make the time pass faster, you know?”

Jisung shrugged, then nodded in agreement. “Sure,” he replied easily. Then he said jokingly, “You should put on some 3RACHA.” His sleep-deprived brain was more surprised than it should have been when Hyunjin’s face lit up.

“Okay!” he said enthusiastically. Then it was too late for Jisung to protest that it had only been a joke, because Hyunjin was already pulling out his phone. In seconds, the first notes of ‘Broken Compass’ were ringing out in all their phone-at-full-volume glory. He then placed the phone on one of the shelves over their heads, enabling the sound to fill the room with ease, to Jisung’s chagrin.

Then Hyunjin started rapping. The first verse was Jisung’s. Jisung obviously knew the lines frontwards and backwards, well enough to tell that Hyunjin didn’t miss a single word or beat. Jisung was fully staring by the time his own recorded voice transitioned to Chan’s smooth one in the chorus.

That’s when Hyunjin finally noticed Jisung’s flabbergasted expression. He stopped singing mid-sentence and pressed his lips together, flushing red.

“You,” Jisung began, “know all the words.” It wasn’t really a question. Jisung was only stating an obvious observation; Hyunjin really knew all of the words. Hyunjin nodded.

“I mean, yeah.” He grinned sheepishly, looking like he wanted to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment, but remembering last minute that his hands were soaking wet from grabbing the dishes from the sink. He settled for gripping the towel in his left hand fully with both hands and squeezing. “I said you were one of my favorite groups, didn’t I?” 

Then Jisung laughed. Full out laughed, head thrown back, eyes scrunched, lips stretched in an open-mouthed smile. Hyunjin could only watch in amazement as Jisung laughed until he was forced to lean over the sink, grabbing the rim and wiping the tears from his eyes with his forearms. Then he turned his gaze on Hyunjin and smiled. It was probably the first time he’d really smiled at Hyunjin, truly smiled, and he saw Hyunjin’s eyes widen in response.

Of course the first song Hyunjin would play was one about finding strength through music despite the challenges they might face. Of course it was a song about following their hearts and sticking together to follow their dreams. Of course it was a song that Jisung and Chan and Changbin had written that perfectly described all of the insecurities Jisung had been struggling with so much in the last few days. Yet, here Hyunjin was, knowing all of the words like they were already famous.

“Yeah, you sure did. Thank you,” said Jisung earnestly. “I think I really needed this. Not that I didn’t believe you, it’s just,” he shrugged, “nice to know that someone out there appreciates our music other than our moms.”

Then Hyunjin was the one laughing, and then they were both giggling together. They eventually calmed down enough to get back to washing the dishes, although at a slightly slower pace than before. 3RACHA’s SoundCloud was still pouring from Hyunjin’s tinny phone speaker. They both started rapping and singing in a joking manner, the duet of two people just having some fun.

Even when ‘Wow’ came on, and Jisung wanted to disappear, Hyunjin still knew all of the words. He didn’t seem to mind that maybe it was a little cringey; the beat and the general fun vibe of the song seemed to be enough for him.

Then the next song began to play, and Jisung was a bit more quiet. ‘I See’ was a song that he held close to his heart since it didn’t feature Chan or Changbin. Like ‘Broken Compass,’ he had written about the struggles of trying to pursue music. Despite describing various challenges, however, the song had a distinctly positive connotation; it ended by insisting that he would eventually succeed in his dream.

Unlike before, when Jisung had been joking around, he found himself rapping and singing along in a more subdued manner. He could barely hear his own voice over the sound of the running water pouring from the sink’s faucet. 

He didn’t notice that Hyunjin had stopped singing until the song ended and Hyunjin said, “Wow. Obviously I knew it already, but your voice is really amazing.” Jisung felt his ears flush, even as he shot Hyunjin a cocky grin.

“Of course it is. Tell me something I don’t know.”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. “Okay Mr. Hotshot. Forget I said anything.” Then he hit Jisung lightly with the towel in his hands. Jisung gasped in mock indignation and splashed some water from the sink at Hyunjin, and the two quickly became engaged in a small water battle. By the time they were done, they were both slightly damp; but the dishes were done, and it was barely past one in the morning. 

_‘All in all,’_ thought Jisung as he drove home a few minutes later, _‘a successful closing shift.’_

* * *

**Saturday - Opening Shift**

When Jisung woke up the next day, the act of forcing his eyes open was even more difficult than usual. After laying in bed twenty minutes longer than he probably should’ve, he finally managed to drag himself into the bathroom to brush his teeth and make a poor attempt at taming his hair. 

After a late shift his motivation to look presentable always dropped considerably, and he praised his past self for showering the night before despite his fatigue. By the time Jisung slumped into his trusty car, he was awake only enough to think about how much he didn’t want to work the opening shift that morning. 

Jisung rolled up to their local pizza shop with two minutes to spare, 8:58 A.M. exactly. He clocked in, grabbed fifteen dollars from the cash register to serve as his change bank for deliveries, and placed one of the magnetic car toppers on top of his car in a sleepy haze. By the time he’d started prepping boxes for the lunch rush, he’d only just managed to mumble a _‘hello’_ to Seungmin in the front before heading to the back room with Felix.

Jisung was finally starting to feel like a functioning human again by the fifteenth folded box. It was a good thing, because Hyunjin chose that moment to peak his head around the corner.

“Hey, Jisung?” he said, entering the back room in a way that was almost….shy?

Jisung didn’t pause in his folding, but he did send Hyunjin a sleepy smile. “What’s up, Hyunjin?” he asked, hands relying on muscle memory. Felix also smiled at Hyunjin, his hands folding boxes slightly faster than Jisung since he was actually fully awake and functioning.

Hyunjin sidled up to Jisung and hopped up to sit on a stack of unfolded box cutouts, swinging his legs a bit. Jisung turned his eyes back to his boxes, but kept his attention on Hyunjin’s words. He hated to admit it, but after he’d spilled his guts to Hyunjin in the early hours of the morning, he was feeling significantly comfortable around him. Jisung had even found himself looking forward to seeing Hyunjin today, which was definitely a first.

Jisung guessed it didn’t hurt that he no longer saw Hyunjin as competition for Seungmin’s affection.

“I was just wondering if you knew what movies were playing at the movie theater,” Hyunjin said, turning his statement into more of a question by raising his tone at the end of the sentence. His voice seemed a bit squeaky for some reason. Jisung found it kind of endearing.

Unfortunately, Jisung would be of little help to Hyunjin in this particular case.

“I don’t know what movies are playing, man. All my money goes to food, gas, and paying for studio time,” Jisung responded, hands still flying through the motions of folding the neverending stack of cardboard cutouts.

“Okay, forget the theater,” Hyunjin said, waving his hand dismissively. He leaned towards Jisung. “What kind of movies do you and your friends like to watch?”

Jisung looked up at that and shrugged. “Horror, maybe?” Then he snickered. “Well, Chan and I like horror, but Changbin pretends he likes it and then proceeds to cover his eyes and curl up the entire time.”

For some reason this idea seemed to please Hyunjin, who said, “So he’s a scaredy-cat?”

Jisung laughed. “Yeah. That, plus the fact that he’ll jump on any excuse to cuddle.”

Hyunjin’s pleased expression dropped away, but Jisung didn’t have time to ponder why when they both heard the sound of Minho calling Hyunjin’s name. Hyunjin muttered out some sort of thanks and disappeared to the front to do his job.

Jisung grabbed a finished stack of large boxes and followed him, and the two walked in silence together until Hyunjin split off to join Minho in the office. Jisung continued to the front of the store, placing the boxes in their designated spot on the table by the oven before continuing to where Seungmin was grabbing plastic bins of prepped food from the walk-in refrigerator.

“Hey Seungmin,” said Jisung, leaning against the door frame and cocking a hip out. He crossed his arms and grinned when Seungmin jumped slightly and then tried to play it off.

“Hey Jisung,” he responded coolly, sliding quickly past Jisung through the door and into the hot (compared to the walk-in refrigerator) air. Jisung was quick to follow after him, a bounce in his step due to his newfound emotional freedom around Seungmin.

“So what’s been up with you lately?” Jisung asked innocently. He leaned his back against the prep line as Seungmin placed the bins of food in their proper places. “Been talking to anyone?”

Jisung watched in glee as Seungmin, Mr. Calm and Collected himself, started to turn red. To be fair, it was kind of a pointless question; Jisung knew for a fact that Changbin and Seungmin had been messaging all night after they’d left yesterday because Changbin would not shut up about it in their 3RACHA group chat. 

Seungmin avoided eye-contact and kept his hands busy with the food, but he couldn’t manage to stop the corner of his lip from curling up when he responded. “Maybe.”

Jisung laughed. Then he nudged Seungmin lightly in the ribs with his elbow, saying, “So got any plans for tomorrow?” Then he wiggled his eyebrows. Once again, he already knew the answer to his question; Changbin had asked if Seungmin wanted to go grab some coffee and Seungmin had said yes. 

Seungmin just rolled his eyes, laughing as he playfully shoved Jisung away. “Jisung, shut up. Am I gonna have to deal with you teasing me forever?”

Jisung just shrugged, saying slyly, “Only if you and Changbin are together forever,” and that shut Seungmin right up because he was too busy blushing to come up with a witty response. “Anyway,” Jisung continued, deciding to let Seungmin off the hook for now, “Are we still on for closing Monday?”

Seungmin gathered himself enough to say, “Oh, I forget to tell you. Hyunjin and I were talking the other day and I mentioned I had a closing shift with you on Monday and he offered to take it off my hands. Something about making extra money?”

Jisung took a second to respond. Three days ago, this turn of events would have infuriated him. He would’ve considered it an insult that Hyunjin was stealing precious time away from him and Seungmin. Now, the thought of closing again with Hyunjin was actually kind of pleasing.

“Okay, sounds good-” he started to say, but then he was interrupted by a certain bright coworker.

“Dude!” Felix interjected, throwing himself over Jisung’s shoulders with a grin. “I didn’t know that Hyunjin was into Changbin!”

Jisung could see Seungmin stiffen at those words, and he fought the urge to do the same. With Felix hanging all over him, he’d be sure to notice any weird behavior. 

Still, he allowed his confusion to bleed into his voice as he said, “What the fuck are you talking about?” Jisung’s tone wasn’t rude, not by any means, but he made it clear that he thought Felix had said something mad dumb and he wanted to know why. Felix just took an incredulous step back from Jisung, as if baffled by the thought of Jisung not instantly knowing what he was talking about.

“Uh, he just spent like five minutes asking what kinds of movies your friends like and got really attentive when you mentioned Changbin? You were literally there, my dude.”

Jisung just rolled his eyes. “C’mon man, he was just being friendly.” And in his mind, that had indeed been the extent of their earlier conversation. He had just figured that Hyunjin was trying to get to know him better since they had bonded the night before.

Is it possible that the real reason was because Hyunjin was into Changbin? Changbin, who Hyunjin had only met in passing a couple times? Silly, sometimes immature, short, muscular, handsome, loyal, friendly, cute Changbin? No way….right?

To think, all this time, Jisung had seen Hyunjin as competition in the battle for Seungmin’s love. However, looking back, he guessed Hyunjin hadn’t ever really shown any special interest in Seungmin beyond being friendly. Could it be that, instead of Jisung’s former crush, Hyunjin was interested in Jisung’s best friend?

And the biggest question of all; why did that kind of make him feel like shit?

Jisung was shaken from his internal monologing by Seungmin, who interjected with a venom that Jisung had only heard him use with the rudest of customers, saying, “If you guys are just going to gossip then I would appreciate it if you would get out of my workspace.”

Felix laughed, evidently thinking Seungmin was joking, but Jisung could tell that there was actual bite behind those words. Seungmin wasn’t happy. Jisung may not want to kiss Seungmin like he did when they were in high school, but he still didn’t want his friend to be upset. 

So Jisung punched Felix lightly on the arm, enough to earn himself a surprised, “Ow!” from the blonde, but not enough to actually hurt.

“Felix, you’re an idiot. Seungmin has a thing for Changbin. Have a little tact.”

Felix’s mouth dropped open and he stared at Seungmin.

“You like Changbin?” he asked, his voice raising a little louder than a normal indoor voice.

Seungmin shot a glare at Jisung, and if looks could kill then Jisung wouldn’t have to worry about the future ever again. Seungmin looked back at Felix and crossed his arms. “Yes,” he admitted, raising his chin as if daring Felix to tease him.

But of course, Felix wasn’t that kind of person. He just smiled widely, genuinely happy, and asked, “Oh my god, that’s so great!” Then a thought seemed to occur to him, and he continued, “And Changbin? Does he….?” He trailed off.

Jisung chose that moment to jump back into the conversation. He grinned, teasingly saying, “Changbin is head over heels, of course. Who wouldn’t be? Seungmin is a catch.”

Seungmin just blushed for the second time that day while Felix squealed happily and clapped his hands excitedly. The blonde congratulated Seungmin for a couple minutes, until the taller employee finally extracted himself from the conversation to continue prepping the make-line. 

Felix leaned against the counter next to Jisung, staring dreamily into the distance as if imagining a fairy tale romance starring Seungmin and Changbin. Then his happy expression fell and was replaced by a heartbroken one.

Before Jisung even had the chance to ask what was wrong, Felix whispered, “Oh no. Poor Hyunjin,” and Jisung was thrust back into his earlier train of thought about the tall dancer. “He’s going to be heartbroken,” Felix continued.

Jisung nodded internally. That made sense. The reason he must be feeling so shitty about the situation is because he feels bad for Hyunjin. Whether Hyunjin liked Seungmin (as Jisung had originally thought) or Changbin (as Felix seemed to be convinced of), Hyunjin was going to find himself turned down. A lose-lose in every sense of the phrase. 

Hyunjin was beautiful in every sense of the word, and yet he was destined to be rejected by either Seungmin or Changbin, whoever it was that he liked, since they were interested in each other. 

Then Jisung distracted himself from this conclusion when he ruefully thought to himself that he’d never thought Changbin could be so popular. First Seungmin was into him, and now Hyunjin might be into him, too? Lucky bastard. 

However, despite his mind’s attempt to lighten the mood, Jisung couldn’t help but feel as though he had missed a vital sub-conclusion. Like there was another reason, besides just feeling bad for Hyunjin, that the entire situation hadn’t sat well with him. 

Jisung could attempt to figure out exactly what it was that was still bugging him….or he could change the subject and move on. 

Anyone who knew him at all could guess which one of those options he picked.

So the subject was dropped when Jisung made some sarcastic remark, and the two drivers split ways to do their jobs for a little while before goofing off again an hour later. Seungmin remained in a happy daze all day, broken up only by Felix and Jisung taking turns congratulating and teasing him, respectively. 

By the time the afternoon rolled around and it was time for the opening drivers and other employees to clock out, Jisung had successfully forgotten all about the conversation earlier in the day.

* * *

**Sunday - Day Off**

When Jisung woke up on Sunday, he forgot for a second that he had the day off. That didn’t stop him from laying in bed long to make himself late on a regular day of work, but it did stop him from bothering to look for his comb once he remembered what day it was. 

Instead of attempting to tame his bedhead, he grabbed a beanie off the floor and shoved it over the mess that was his mop of hair. Then he sauntered out of his room into the main living section of 3RACHA’s small three-bedroom apartment and made his way to the kitchen. 

Jisung pulled open the fridge and tried to find some left-overs that hadn’t gone bad and struck out. Frozen chicken nuggets it was. He popped a plateful into the microwave. As the plated chicken nuggets spun slowly around and around behind him, he cleared a place at the kitchen table. Doing so simply meant pushing the various cables and production equipment off of one corner of the table so that there was enough room for one plate.

That’s where Chan found him five minutes later; chowing down on some dinosaur shaped nuggets and watching a random YouTube video about turtles that had popped up in his recommended videos feed. 

“Hey Jisung,” he said, yawning as his sock covered feet dragged over the carpet. 

Jisung didn’t even bother looking up from his phone as he waved a nugget in Chan’s general direction. “Good morning, Chan.” Then an idea struck him, and he paused his video and finally looked up. “Do we have the studio booked today?”

Chan rubbed his eyes and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall over the table. It currently proclaimed the time to be slightly after ten in the morning, and he did some quick mental math.

“Yeah, we’ve got about an hour until our time slot. We rented the room from eleven to one in the afternoon. We’re almost finished with the current track, so we’ll be able to finalize that and have spare time to experiment with some new sounds.”

Jisung nodded and shoved the last nugget into his mouth whole before pushing his chair back from the table to stand up. They’d been living together long enough to wordlessly fall into their morning pattern. Chan started gathering up all the gear they’d need to bring with them while Jisung went to go hound Changbin to wake up. 

Once all three of them were sufficiently awake and ready, they piled into Chan’s rundown car and started driving. After a quick pit stop through their local Starbucks’ drive-thru (where Jisung and Changbin both got Americanos and judged Chan for shamelessly purchasing a strawberry cake pop and nothing else), they arrived five minutes early for their eleven o’clock appointment at their usual local music studio.

Just as Jisung and Chan had acted without words that morning, the three of them moved like clockwork into the building, unpacking their gear and switching the settings so everything was just the way they liked it. It would have been obvious to anyone watching that this was not even close to the first time the trio had made use of this studio and equipment.

And just like Chan had said that morning, they blew through the finishing touches of the track they had been working on the past few weeks. It was barely even twelve, and they managed to not only completely finish one song, but they finished the recordings for another two tracks and even began the background harmonies and ad-libs. 

All in all, they were feeling very productive. Maybe this was why, when Chan announced that they could split up and work on their separate projects, Jisung found his mind full of optimistic lyrics about the future and life. Not that he wasn’t an optimistic person; it’s just that the last school year had been a particularly hard one, and his optimism levels had been low enough that not even his humor could cover it completely.

But everything was different today. Today was a new day, and Jisung was a new person. Now that he was no longer connected to Seungmin by the arbitrary ties that he had created himself, he was freer and more confident than he had been even just three days ago.

So he threw himself into his lyrics. Within twenty minutes, he had the outline of an entire song with several rap verses and even a basic chorus. It still needed some touch-ups, but it was definitely some of the best work he’d ever done. 

Jisung stood up from where he’d perched himself on the couch and walked over to tap Chan on the shoulder. Chan looked up from where he’d been sitting, adjusting settings on the table full of sound settings while Changbin ad-libbed various grunts and shouts into the microphone inside the booth itself.

Jisung wordlessly handed Chan his phone with the screen open to the notes section, and he watched with feigned nonchalance as Chan read the lyrics. It took him less than a minute to reach the end, and when he did he looked up at Jisung with something close to awe.

“Jisung, this is great. The emotions? The metaphors and rhymes and wordplay?” Chan looked back down at the phone, mouthing words and bobbing his head to a rhythm that could be heard only inside his own head. “It’s really amazing. Do you have a sound in mind? A melody for the chorus maybe?” He handed the phone back.

Jisung shrugged, trying to appear as though this praise from someone he admired and respected very much didn’t make him want to squeal. He took the phone back and looked at the lyrics again.

“Maybe….” Jisung started, closing his eyes and trying to let his mind wander free, to visualize the notes that would match the vibe of the lyrics. Then he started humming, quietly at first, a bit uncertain, and then louder. In a few seconds, he was singing the lyrics of the chorus softly, the melody appearing as easily in his mind as the words themselves had.

Once he reached the end of the chorus and the start of the next verse, he trailed off a bit, uncertain again. “Maybe something like that?” he asked, grinning sheepishly.

Chan grinned back. It was only then that Jisung noticed the phone in Chan’s hand. He’d obviously whipped out his recording app once Jisung had started humming in a successful effort to make sure they had evidence of the melody so they wouldn’t forget it.

Chan spun his chair back around to the glass separating the two of them from Changbin in the studio and clapped his hands loudly, rubbing them together with an almost wicked glee.

“Changbin!” he called, pressing the button that allowed for them to communicate over the speakers. “Get out here!” Then he glanced back at Jisung over his shoulder, still grinning, before leaning towards the mic to say, “We’ve got a song to create.”

Jisung had never seen them put a track together so quickly. Obviously the instrumental was nowhere near perfect, and Chan would most likely spend hours more tweaking it. However, in less than an hour they’d gone from nothing to an almost complete song. With the three of them working together, they’d utilized Chan’s laptop and the studio’s sound board to put together a mostly complete instrumental track.

With that in hand, the three of them took turns going into the recording booth to perform sections of the song, their skills at performing ensuring that they needed minimal takes to record high quality vocals and raps.

By the time one o’clock rolled around and they were forced to vacate the room for the next person’s use, their 3RACHA flash drive contained a song that somehow managed to be both vibey and powerful, confident and emotionally vulnerable. It was definitely one of their best productions to date, and Jisung had played the largest role in creating it.

As the three of them were walking out of the main doors into the parking lot, Chan clapped his hand on Jisung’s shoulder, saying, “Not gonna lie, that almost didn’t feel real. You’re amazing.”

Jisung grinned, glowing under the praise. “Thanks. I mean, obviously I knew that, but it never hurts to be reminded.”

Then Changbin nudged him with his elbow on the side opposite Chan and said, “Glad to have you back, buddy.”

Jisung looked at him blankly. “Back?” he asked. “Was I not performing as well recently.?”

The idea made him slightly anxious, but Changbin was quick to shake his head.

“No,” he assured Jisung, “You’re as talented as ever. It’s just that….,” he trailed off, looking into the distance as if remembering something before looking back at Jisung. “You’ve seemed kind of down for a while? We couldn’t figure out what was bothering you, so we thought we’d start coming by to bother you at work more in an effort to cheer you up.” 

Changbin’s words rattled around Jisung’s brain as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that his friends had noticed his funk and been worried about him. 

“But it looks like you started feeling better all on your own,” Changbin said, continuing. “Or,” he said, shooting Jisung a conspiratorial grin. “Maybe not so much on your own?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Jisung just narrowed his eyes, simultaneously in confusion and also in habit at being teased, even if he didn’t know exactly why he was being teased.

“What the fuck are you talking about, man?” Jisung asked, shoving at Changbin jokingly and laughing as Changbin feigned being mortally wounded. Changbin stopped groaning and clutching at his arm where Jisung had shoved him and gave Jisung an incredulous look when it became clear that Jisung seriously didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Really? You don’t have any idea why you’ve been feeling less in the dumps? No obvious change in your life that explains your good mood all of a sudden? No new thing, or maybe a person….? Someone I’ve seen you interact with a few times? Maybe at work….?” Changbin trailed off, expecting Jisung to put the pieces together.

Jisung wrinkled his nose. “Do you mean Seungmin?” he asked. Then he nodded in understanding. “I guess I have been feeling a lot better once I figured out that I wasn’t actually in love with him like I’d thought for several years.”

Changbin looked like he wanted to face palm. Instead, he just sighed and shook his head, muttering, “Nevermind.” Then he brightened, wrapping his arm around Jisung’s shoulders and pressing their heads together. “We’re just happy that you’re happy again.”

Jisung grinned and pressed his head back against Changbin’s, taking comfort in his friend’s embrace. He would never admit it, but even with only one arm, Changbin gave the best hugs. Then Chan glomped himself onto Jisung’s other side, wrapping both his arms around the two of them as best he could and leaning with enough of his weight so as to cause them to stumble.

“I’m so glad I met you guys,” Chan mumbled from where his face was pressed into Jisung’s neck. The three of them walked like that, one mass of limbs, stumbling steps, and light-hearted laughter as they crossed the parking lot to get into the car that would take them home.

* * *

**Monday - Closing Shift**

Jisung’s good mood carried on into Monday. This was lucky, because he was working the closing shift, and he was grateful for every bit of serotonin his brain was willing to give him. 

Jisung was experiencing an intense feeling of déjà vu as he arrived around five in the evening to begin said closing shift. Just like on Friday, Seungmin had yet to leave after working the opening shift, and Changbin was taking advantage of this fact to bother him in the office.

Unlike on Friday, Minho and Chan were absent. This was because they had been canoodling all day in 3RACHA’s shared apartment. Jisung had been forced to watch them flirt in person, and then, whenever he pulled out his phone to get away from the PDA for two seconds, he was forced to read the countless messages Changbin kept sending their group chat about how cute Seungmin is when he’s working. This, of course, was followed by Jisung seeing their gross almost-a-couple interactions in person once he arrived for his shift.

And as much as he loved seeing all of his friends happy together, he was kind of relieved when Seungmin and Changbin left after only thirty minutes into Jisung’s shift to grab some food. No matter how much he tried to see only the positive aspects of his friends’ progressing relationships, Jisung couldn’t help the small knot of anxiety in his stomach at the thought of so many things changing around him. It was simultaneously a feeling of trying to cling to familiarity, feeling as though he _wanted_ to change, but finding himself being left behind by everyone around him anyway.

All in all, a highly unpleasant feeling, and one that he knew he could rationalize himself out of eventually. Which was decidedly easier when he wasn’t surrounded by the sources of his stress. So when his two friends exited out the back door with a wave and various yelled words, Jisung was more than happy to see them go, even if just for a little while. For the first time all day, he would be able to go about his life without the risk of accidentally stepping within range of his friends’ dopey, love-filled gazes.

The next few hours were uneventful. Mondays were one of their slowest days, so Jisung’s deliveries were limited. He spent most of his time folding boxes or washing dishes; the more dishes he did during his shift, the less he had to do after they closed.

And, now that he had fully admitted to himself that he and Hyunjin were friends, it was nice to interact with him throughout their shift. They didn’t bicker the way he and Seungmin did, or goof off like Jisung did with Felix, or instantly connect on every level like he did with Minho.

Instead, Hyunjin and Jisung were able to talk about anything and everything between Jisung’s deliveries. They bickered on some things, agreed on others, had discussions about everything in the middle. They talked about dance and music and school and television shows and literally anything that came to mind. Even when they were squabbling, the conversation was easy.

So when midnight rolled around and they were officially closed, Jisung found himself excited to wash dishes and speak with Hyunjin fully uninterrupted. Not that he would ever admit it, but he enjoyed conversing with the newbie immensely. Intellectually, they were equals, so he never felt like he was falling behind like he sometimes used to with Seungmin. It was nice.

Just as he had hoped, once Hyunjin finished cleaning up the front of the store, he sidled on back to help Jisung with his dishes. They fell into the same routine as the last time they’d closed together; Jisung washing and rinsing, Hyunjin sanitizing and drying.

“So,” said Hyunjin, grabbing a pan from Jisung and dipping it in the sink full of sanitizer, “If you attend the local college, do you live with your parents and commute? That’s what I’ve been doing since I live so close.”

“Nah,” Jisung responded, continuing to wash the next pan, “I live with Chan and Changbin. We decided to share an apartment after my freshman year, so once the fall semester starts after the summer it’ll have been a full year of dealing with those buffoons.” Despite his words, Jisung’s words were full of affection.

Hyunjin laughed. “That seems pretty nice, living with your best friends.”

Jisung nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I love them. Even when Chan is being gross and inviting Minho over to engage in public displays of affection right in front of my salad. If I had known that the two of them would be so lovey dovey, I never would’ve gotten them together,” Jisung pretended to complain.

Hyunjin laughed again, but this time it was more of a teasing giggle.

“Yeah, because that was all you,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Then he deadpanned, “They absolutely got together all on their own and you know it.”

Jisung put a soapy finger to his lips. “Shhhhh. No way! I am a master matchmaker, and I will take no further criticism.”

Then Hyunjin got kind of quiet, and the two of them washed dishes together in silence for several seconds.

Finally, just as the stretch of silence was threatening to turn awkward, Hyunjin said, “If you’re not careful, your matchmaking skills are going to backfire. You might want to tell Seungmin to back off in his flirting with Changbin.”

Jisung felt his face twist in confusion. He narrowed his eyes at Hyunjin, not understanding, then said, “Um, what?”

Hyunjin looked at him intently for a moment, pausing in his drying. “Seungmin was flirting with Changbin the other day. You didn’t notice?”

Then Jisung started laughing. He slapped Hyunjin a couple times on the back with a soapy hand, as if they were sharing the funniest joke ever, although Hyunjin was looking as confused as Jisung had been only a few seconds ago.

“They’ve literally been going on dates! As soon as one of them stops beating around the bush and asks the other, they’ll be boyfriends. Why would I ever want them to stop flirting? I mean, sure, Seungmin is way out of Changbin’s league, but he’s an adult who can make his own bad decisions if he wants,” Jisung said, still laughing.

“Oh,” said Hyunjin, not answering the question. “And are you okay? I thought….I thought you liked Changbin?”

That shut Jisung up. He looked at Hyunjin, shocked. Hyunjin seemed to deflate a little as the silence stretched on, like he was hoping for a different reaction from Jisung other than silence.

Then Jisung said, “Me and….? Dude, no fucking way. Didn’t we, like, already have this conversation? Changbin’s like my big brother.” Then Jisung stopped to scratch his head for a second, distracting himself from his current train of thought. “Well, more like he’s my little brother? I don’t know, he’s just got younger brother energy, you know?” 

Then Jisung seemed to notice that Hyunjin was looking at him with a confused look on his face. 

“Oh shit,” said Jisung. “Are you serious? No. Changbin and I have never and will never be a thing. He and Seungmin are super into each other, super cute together, and super annoying when they start their doting.”

Hyunjin blinked. “I thought you were just embarrassed to admit your feelings for him.” Then Hyunjin groaned. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry for assuming. And you even told me directly, I feel so stupid!”

Jisung just laughed. “It’s all good, man. No harm done. If anything, you weren’t totally wrong about me potentially not liking their relationship. Before they got together, I did sort of have a thing for Seungmin for a few years. Not anymore, but yeah.” He grinned sheepishly.

Then Hyunjin let out a short laugh, full of an emotion that Jisung couldn’t place. “Of course you did. Did you know that he used to like you back in high school?”

Jisung’s eyes widened. “No way. You’re fucking with me.”

Hyunjin just laughed darkly, shaking his head. “Why would I lie? He told me back on my first day working here when he was giving me the run-down on all our coworkers that he had a crush on you when you two first met.”

“Holy shit,” said Jisung. “That’s crazy. We could have gone out? That’s so wild.”

“Yeah, if you weren’t so obtuse when it comes to other’s feelings, maybe you and him could have worked out,” said Hyunjin jokingly.

Jisung shrugged. “Nah, I don’t think we would’ve lasted long term.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “Hey, who are you to call me obtuse? You’re the one who thought that I liked Changbin!” Then Jisung got kind of quiet. “Actually,” he continued, avoiding Hyunjin’s eyes and going back to doing dishes for the first time in a few minutes, “Felix kind of thought that maybe _you_ liked Changbin. Is that not the case? He thought you might be upset by their relationship.”

Hyunjin’s laughter at that question was the loudest Jisung had ever heard from him. “Me? Like Changbin? Man, when I called you obtuse I didn’t realize how true that was. I don’t like Changbin, Jisung.” His tone was endeared. Then Hyunjin stood there looking at Jisung until Jisung felt obligated to meet his eyes. Hyunjin’s gaze was intense. “Jisung, you dumbass. I like _you_.”

Jisung burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he couldn’t see straight for a few seconds. Then he looked up, and Hyunjin wasn’t laughing.

Oh. _Oh_. Oh _shit_.

Listening and caring about what Jisung said? Helping him with the dishes? Asking about his relationship with Changbin, more than once? Talking to him about what movies he liked? So Jisung was a dumbass. No news there.

Jisung could feel his mouth flapping open and closed, no doubt leaving him looking like a fish flopping about on land. It was definitely not his most flattering look. Then, to his horror, he could feel tears pricking at his eyes.

Hyunjin’s brows rose in concern, his hands fluttering through the air as he took a step towards Jisung, evidently unsure of how to react to this strange response. Jisung just wiped at his eyes angrily, looking down at the floor in an attempt to regain his composure, frustrated that he was crying for no apparent reason. Of course, this frustration just made him cry even more.

“You like me?” Jisung asked, voice gruff. He glanced up at Hyunjin through his wet lashes, eyebrows pulled together in angry embarrassment. 

Hyunjin nodded. He lowered his hands slowly, guessing correctly that Jisung wasn’t hurt or anything, just overwhelmed. Jisung was beyond grateful that he didn’t acknowledge or even ask him why he was crying, because Jisung honestly didn’t know. 

Then Hyunjin smiled, looking down at the floor shyly, and said, “Yeah. I thought you were cute from the very beginning. And I think you’re really funny and nice.” Hyunjin rubbed the back of his neck as he continued. “I was really surprised when I found out you were also in my favorite group. You just seemed so cool and fun and it was surreal having this person that I’ve admired from afar actually be so admirable in real life, too.”

Jisung just shook his head, eyes still embarrassingly wet. “I’m not.” Then he laughed, gruff and frustrated. “I’m a fucking mess.”

Hyunjin shook his head and reached out his hand, hesitating before his fingers could touch Jisung’s shoulder, evidently wondering if his comforting gesture would be appreciated. Then he started slowly withdrawing his hand, and Jisung, so used to being helpless as the figurative rug that is life was pulled out from other his feet, felt it start to happen again. He felt that feeling he got whenever he couldn’t control what was happening around him, and he hated it more than anything.

So he reached out and grabbed Hyunjin’s hand. The rug steadied under him, and Hyunjin looked up at him with hopeful eyes. Jisung squeezed his hand harder, wiping the last of his tears away with his free fingers. 

Jisung looked down at their intertwined hands, his right palm flush against Hyunjin’s, their fingers intertwined. He had never imagined doing something like this with anyone except for Seungmin. But whenever he imagined doing this with Seungmin, his heart was calm and steady. It never felt like this did; his pulse racing so quickly that his heart might burst, like there were butterflies fluttering about not just in his stomach, but in his throat and eyes and hair and fingertips.

Jisung felt out of control, and yet the steady pressure of Hyunjin’s hand was enough to keep him tethered. As Jisung found his mind wandering, he felt his hand being squeezed softly, and he looked up. 

Hyunjin was still looking at him hopefully, but he seemed more subdued. His expression was comforting, and let Jisung know everything he needed to know; he would wait as long as Jisung needed.

So Jisung took a deep breath, and said, “Hyunjin, it’s a good thing you’re pretty, because you have terrible taste.” Then he cracked a smile, and the two of them were laughing. After only a few seconds, Jisung took another deep breath and reached up with his left hand to hold Hyunjin’s hand with both of his. “Even though I like to act spontaneous, I’m really not. I’m afraid of the future, and change, and being left behind. I’ve never dreaded anything more than I’ve dreaded the end of this summer.” 

Throughout his long spiel, Hyunjin did nothing but listen. He waited for Jisung to gather his thoughts, only squeezing his two hands as Jisung said, “But I want to change. I want to be someone who looks for opportunities and takes them. I want to make music and believe that it will work out.” He grinned, a little sheepish. “I want to believe it’s possible that the hot new employee who is too kind to others could be interested in me.”

Hyunjin’s eyes crinkled, and he blushed. 

“Well, it is definitely possible that the hot new employee is interested in you, but only if you’re interested in him, too. If you’re not, then he’s still interested, but would love it if you forgot that little fact and would continue to be his friend,” said Hyunjin, a serious undertone to his joking delivery. Then Hyunjin withdrew his hand from Jisung’s grip and pulled him into a hug, wrapping his arms around Jisung’s neck and saying in a quiet tone, “And he hopes that he never makes you cry again.”

So, of course, Jisung’s eyes started watering. He buried his face in Hyunjin’s neck and wrapped his arms around Hyunjin’s middle, squeezing tightly.

As Hyunjin rubbed his back in a comforting motion, Jisung blubbered out, “I literally don’t even know why I’m crying. I’m not sad? I’m actually really happy.” Even as he said the words, Jisung could feel exactly how true they were.

For the first time in a long time, Jisung was thinking about the future, and it wasn’t scary. He was thinking about his friends and their opportunities, but now, instead of competition, they were a promise. He and his friends would grow and change, but they would do so together.

And then Jisung thought about how good holding Hyunjin’s hand had felt, how sturdy, yet comforting, his hug was. He thought about going on a date and learning his favorite color and showing him the studio where 3RACHA made his favorite songs. He thought about how they didn’t really know each other all that well yet, having only met a week ago. He thought about how that would change, as long as he was willing to let it.

“Hyunjin?” he muttered into Hyunjin’s neck. His voice, although muffled, was composed. Hyunjin’s shirt under his face was slightly damp, but Jisung’s eyes were now dry. Hyunjin just hummed in response. “Do you want to go to the movies sometime? With me?”

Hyunjin pulled back far enough to shoot Jisung a grin wide enough to show off his perfect round teeth. “I thought you’d never ask. Literally. I thought you would end up with Changbin and I’d have to watch you be the cutest boyfriend to someone who wasn’t me.”

Jisung stepped fully out of Hyunjin’s arms and smacked him lightly on the chest.

“Dude, buy me some coffee before bringing out the b-word.” Jisung looked down at his hands. “Did you know that I’ve never hugged someone so early on into knowing them. And I would consider myself a pretty tactile person.” Then Jisung curled one hand into a fist and bumped it against Hyunjin’s chest again.

Hyunjin laughed, saying, “First time for everything.” Then he made a faux-thoughtful expression. “Can’t say the same though. I hugged my best friend, Jeonginnie, the first day I ever met him. He just had the cutest little braces,” Hyunjin’s voice trailed off wistfully.

Jisun huffed, crossing his arms in a joking manner. “Well, then maybe you should go to the movies with him, if he’s so cute.”

Hyunjin’s wistful expression was instantly replaced by a disgusted one.

“Oh no way, he’s like my little brother, that would be like incest….” he trailed off, catching Jisung’s pointedly raised eyebrow. “Ah. Okay, okay, I get it. You can stop with the look,” he said, raising his hands in surrender.

And just like that, they were back to bantering. Jisung felt just as comforted by Hyunjin’s uncanny ability to lighten the mood with humor as he had by his embrace. He knew when to push and when to pull back. It was Jisung’s hope that he would someday be able to read Hyunjin just as clearly. 

As they finished the dishes, discussing what movies were playing that week, Jisung felt hopeful. It wasn’t a definite answer to Jisung’s questions about what was going to happen after graduation. It wasn’t enough to completely assuage his fears about his career choice. It wasn’t the stability that he had been craving when he imagined himself with Seungmin. It wasn’t a definite future.

But when the hell had the future ever been definite? It might not have been a lifetime guarantee, but it was a promise that Hyunjin cared, that they could start a relationship, in whatever capacity they desired, that mattered for longer than that night. It was the assurance that, for at least this summer, Hyunjin would be Jisung’s.


	2. A Week in August

**Sunday - Day Off**

This movie night was simultaneously similar and unique. Like always, Jisung and Changbin had procrastinated tidying their apartment until the last minute. Their flustered running about to throw things under beds and into closets was comforting in its familiarity. The way Seungmin calmly collected snacks from the pantry and placed them on the coffee table was assured, routine.

When Chan and Minho came through the door carrying bags full of corner-store food, no one even spared them a second glance except to thank their oldest friends for their contribution. Hyunjin, along with Jeongin, who had been introduced into their group by Hyunjin a couple months earlier, followed after them with drinks, like always. Even Felix, who had bought drinks last time and therefore earned himself a break from making the trip to the corner store, was keeping himself busy by gathering all of the blankets from the different rooms in the apartment and dumping them on the couch and chairs.

They all moved like clockwork, teamwork honed by hours and hours spent together in this and countless other capacities. However, this night wasn’t like their past movie nights. This night, unlike the others, would mark the end of summer.

School would start up again the next week, signalling several changes. Chan would start his job at their studio, where’d he’d been hired recently. Seungmin would return to his campus a few hours away and begin his junior year in the accounting program. Jisung, Changbin, and Hyunjin would start up classes again at their shared local arts college while Minho began his new full-time job at his dance academy. Felix, who had graduated that spring from the local community college with his Associate’s Degree, would continue to work at Domino’s until he managed to gain some traction in the dancing community. This was lucky for Jeongin, who had just been hired as a new delivery expert in order to pay for his last year at the same community college.

They were all beginning a new chapter in their lives. Their accomplishments, some bigger, some smaller, signalled new beginnings. 

This was what Jisung was thinking about as he plopped onto the couch. In the past, he might have found himself focusing on how a new beginning inherently implies the end of something old. However, his summer had been chock-full of new beginnings, and he was choosing to focus on their beauty over anything else.

Seungmin and Changbin had finally made their relationship official a couple months ago. Jisung watched the two as they moved about opposite sides of the apartment and kept subconsciously searching for the other, all the way up until they sat down side by side on the same couch Jisung was on. Luckily, they were conservative when it came to public displays of affection; Jisung could only just see where their hands were intertwined between them.

Chan and Minho, on the other hand, had placed the food for the group on the coffee table and then proceeded to claim the large armchair to the left of the couch. Despite the fact that they were two grown men, they managed to fold their bodies around each other in such a way that they somehow managed to not look too squished atop the comfortable cushions.

Jisung shook his head, then watched as Felix and Jeongin, the only single friends in their group, worked together to fold two blankets into a makeshift bed on the ground before grabbing another one to place atop their bodies. Jisung knew that they would inevitably end up cuddling more than some of the couples here tonight by the end of the movie due to Felix being a serial cuddler and self-proclaimed Jeongin-lover.

Then there was something blocking his vision, and Jisung looked up to see the tall form of his own boyfriend leaning over him.

“Hey babe,” said Hyunjin, handing Jisung a bowl of popcorn and flopped down into the last open spot on the couch. Jisung took the bowl, scrunching his nose up at the nickname but secretly loving it.

“Hey sugar,” he responded sarcastically, letting the tiniest bit of affection enter his tone. Hyunjin stuck his tongue out at him and attempted to grab the bowl of popcorn back. Jisung just stuck his tongue out, too, and lifted the bowl out of reach, spilling a little.

“Jisung, careful!” said Changbin, sitting directly to Jisung’s other side. “You’re gonna waste perfectly good food.” Then Changbin scooped up one of the pieces of popcorn that had spilled onto the couch and popped it in his mouth. 

On Changbin’s other side, Seungmin rolled his eyes. “Like you would ever waste even a bite,” he said, gesturing pointedly as Changbin stuffed another piece in his mouth. 

Changbin shrugged. “Hey, I’m just cleaning up now so we don’t have to do it later. You’re _welcome_ ,” he said with a grin. Seungmin rolled his eyes again. Jisung noted with affection that the two of them had yet to stop holding hands.

“Can you guys stop acting like hets, I came here to watch a movie, not listen to your flirting,” called Felix from the floor. He was already two inches closer to Jeongin than when they had laid down, his cuddles inevitable.

Minho giggled. “Bold of you to call them hets when you’re attempting to snuggle with the only heterosexual in our entire friend group,” he said, gesturing to where Jeongin was minding his own business and waiting for the movie to start.

Jeongin looked up in betrayal. “Hey, don’t bring me into this, I’m just here for the food.”

Felix pouted. “So you don’t want snuggles?” he asked sadly.

Jeongin instantly backtracked, saying, “That’s not what I meant!” before turning a bright shade of red as everyone began laughing.

As he waited for Chan to finally get fed up with their bickering and start the movie, Jisung found his mind wandering the way it tended to when changes were coming up in his life. However, the changes he imagined on this night were different than they had been a few months ago.

As he sat snuggled up between his boyfriend and one of his best friends, Jisung imagined all of the things that he would get to experience for the first time as he and his friends began the next phases of their lives. 

Most importantly, he’d have more time with Hyunjin past the end of summer. He would learn what it was like to study for classes with Hyunjin, what it was like to walk together on campus between classes, what Hyunjin was like when he was tired because of dance classes but wanted to stay up to be with Jisung.

And so, even as he faced the uncertainty of his future, Jisung didn’t resist as Hyunjin wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer to his side on the couch. As he had been doing all summer since meeting Hyunjin, he allowed himself to be pulled forward without even sparing a thought for what lay behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So once I finally got off my butt and finished writing this fic (literally took a month break in the middle oops), I wasn't sure how this was supposed to flow? I wanted it to be one big single chapter, but since I had already broken it up into days, I didn't want to have to somehow show an even bigger time skip through the months. et voila, my first "chaptered" fic was born, even though it was written at the same time as the first "chapter"

**Author's Note:**

>  **Me:** ults Minho and Changbin  
>  **Also Me:** writes two fanfictions from Jisung's POV
> 
> alternatively;
> 
>  **Me:** has never met a music production major in my life  
>  **Also Me:** shamelessly write 3racha production majors
> 
> or even;
> 
>  **Me:** takes a one month break after writing 12k words  
>  **Also Me:** is *surprised pikachu face* when there are discrepancies bc I literally forgot everything I wrote from before and was too lazy to reread thoroughly
> 
> Okay I'm done. Believe it or not, this started out as a Seungsung fic. Then Hyunjin swooped in and stole the spotlight (sorry Seungmin). Also, did I base this entirely off my experience being an accounting major who's majorly nervous about being a Legitimate Adult? Maybe. And did I explicitly draw from my experience working as a delivery expert (such a stupid name lol) at Domino's for three summers? Since I still work there, the answer is whatever won't get me fired lol, pls I love my job. Title one hundred percent stolen from google when I searched, "pizza puns" :P


End file.
